


The Black Frost

by SilyaBeeodess



Series: Clocks and Spirits [6]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26525155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilyaBeeodess/pseuds/SilyaBeeodess
Summary: Once again, a violent storm begins to spread over Subcon Forest. The disturbed queen leaves her manor to find her prince after so long, and she is stronger than ever.  Can the denizens of the wood stop her hostile takeover before she encases everything in ice and snow a second time?
Series: Clocks and Spirits [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613260
Comments: 43
Kudos: 76





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, all! Thanks for checking out this story, but a little heads-up for new readers. First off, this is one part in a series, so in order to pick up on a lot of what’s going on, you’ll want to have at least read “The Firelands” and “The Horizon” first, the other two big fanfics I’ve written for AHIT. Also, we won’t be visiting many new areas… yet, that’s for another fic. Instead, we’ll primarily be returning to locations that Hat Kid has already visited, so things are going to work out just a little differently. Even still, I hope you enjoy this as you strap in for one wild ride.

No matter how much she tried to keep the place well-kept, no matter how many candles she lit to give her home a rich glow and keep the dark halls at least somewhat warm and bright, nothing could deter the bitter cold that seeped through the walls and floorboards. To the queen, however, the piercing chill didn’t even register. After all, the ice was her element: If anything, it was the fire didn’t belong. She needed it though, if only to signal across Subcon’s desolate landscape that she was still there, waiting for her love to return.

Vanessa prepared for that moment every day. Despite the years, she and many of her subjects remained, so he had to still be out there too, somewhere. He had to come back to her: He always did. Unfortunately, thus far, only a series of uninvited guests had welcomed themselves into the manor—much to her everlasting frustration. 

The last one had not only escaped, but destroyed her piano and stole the hourglass she’d found lying outside her home. The latter had been the gravest offence. Her prince had always shown an interest in various knowledge from law, to astronomy, to history. The hourglass had matched the ruins of the much larger piece found in the depths of the woods. Maybe it was silly to hope, but it was the only sign she’d had in all this time, the only thing that made the weight of her isolation seem worthwhile.

Standing in the parlor, the noble stood before one of the bookshelves and glanced at the ruined instrument. Her lips pulled back into an ugly sneer and her hands twitched beside her before she swung one up in a clawing motion to send a spike of ice through its casing with a loud, cacophony of sound as what remained of the piano was broken to splitters. Dark wood and ivory keys flew across the room. All the while, she thought of the little, dirty footprints that had soiled the rug in the main hall.

They’d entered from the cellar: She’d discovered that much easily. That’s where the footprints originated and she’d found the doors wide open. The two guards she kept stationed out front, however, claimed to have seen nothing. Useless idiots, of course they didn’t. The Shadow’s umbran, little monsters had cut off the possessed statues’ heads long ago. They couldn’t see, only sense when a foe was within close range. She wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that one of _them_ was the thief. 

Vanessa hated that Shadow, that Snatcher. He had no business in Subcon; he’d even turned some of her subjects against her! However, he was a powerful enough spirit to warrant caution. Any guards she’d sent out against him directly had either been captured or destroyed and forced to find new bodies. Those that remained hid across the forest at her bidding, to collect information, along with anything she may desire from the outside world… and keep watch for the Prince’s return. 

Her gaze once more scrolled over the aged texts that lined the shelves. She’d read those stories so many times that she knew them by heart. Perrault’s _Cinderella_ , Madame d’Aulnoy’s _Graciosa and Percinet_ , Villeneuve’s _Beauty and the Beast_ … Tale after tale where true love conquered all and princes cherished their paramours on bended knee. They struggled through every kind of adversity and granted every desire, even at the cost of themselves, to be with the women they loved.

_And then they lived happily, ever after…_

That was how the story was supposed to go anyway. Until he’d left her alone and then _that_ woman had tried to steal him from her! She should’ve known to begin with, her poor prince! He’d never _really_ meant to betray her, but men were susceptible to the wiles of a temptress so very easily and he’d been away for so long. But the witch was gone now! And he’d needed time to clear his head. She might’ve been a little hasty, putting him in the cellar, but she’d given him that.

Maybe if she’d kept a better eye on him though, he would’ve have disappeared. Nothing was right—had never been right since the day she was born, every woman in her family doomed to die in the middle of their years, consumed by the ice that dwelled inside them. It was her curse. Still, she was a princess, destined for so much more. 

She had to remember that this was just the falling action. The crisis had passed: All she had to do was be patient and he would come for her; he would set things right again. She’d made mistakes before and he always knew how to fix them, he always returned to her side! When he came back, they’d chase out the Snatcher together, restore order to their kingdom, and live on as they were meant to! 

_So, where is he then…?_

There was a trickle of doubt. Sometimes, her prince didn’t always follow the script. Then again, neither had she. She should’ve been dead. The ice had overtaken her, and yet here she was: She’d _mastered_ it, ending the cycle.

None of it was by the book. Her becoming queen before her love-story could wrap up, him going off to that school, his current absence, and her “cured” curse. It was _not_ supposed to go this way! Where was her prince on bended knee?! Where was her rescue, her wedding bells, her ride into the sunset?! It called into question everything she knew and she _hated_ it!

The queen took a shaky breath, forcing herself to calm down. _Be patient, patience…_ she reminded herself. He would come for her, eventually…

Selecting a heavy text—the binding loose from wear—she began the silent trek back to her room on the floor above. On the way, she passed the cracked mirror-vanity in the main hall, refusing to spare it a glance. As much as Vanessa tried to clean herself up and as much as she wouldn’t admit it, she didn’t look like a princess anymore. Beyond the ever-present darkness that enveloped her body, she’d turned deathly pale. The once golden shine to her hair had dulled. Her fingers had elongated into sharp digits and small, frost-like patterns ran across her hunched figure. 

That too, could be fixed. Everything would be better when he returned.

Before she could step inside her chambers, she paused at the door. Something was wrong: Someone was in there. Although her ability to sense others wasn’t as adept as her guardmens’, she just knew it. Vanessa’s thoughts turned to the mafia goon who’d hidden inside her wardrobe, who now stood as a decoration near the stairwell leading to the third floor. She thought of the sneaky, little intruder who stole the precious sign from her love… A cruel smile tugged at her face.

 _“Come to rob from me again, have you?!”_ her shrill voice echoed through the manor, loud enough to drown out the door as she ripped it open, _“What a brazen pest you are!”_

However, the figure the sat on her bed, cradling her open diary in its lap, was not a child or one of the Snatcher’s minions. It was a tall, patchwork being with disjointed limbs. He was a strange amalgamation of different fabrics, all of which were thickly stabled to his body like a crude straightjacket, except his arms were free underneath his heavy sleeves. It was impossible to see his face beneath the hood bundled around his thin shoulders, but for all she knew it was just a deep void, matching the shadowy appearance of his stubby legs. Most jarring were his eyes, of which there were many, all different colors, some staring right at her and others frantically searching the room in an erratic manner. 

Whatever he was, his appearance in her home—let alone his invasion of her diary—would’ve thrown her into a deep rage. Only one thing held her back: The frozen figure that looked just like him still standing in the corner. They’d met before.

Unmoved by her ire, the figure chuckled in a mocking tone, “I take it you were expecting someone else?”

When Vanessa found her voice, it came out as a seething hiss, “ _How did you—?!_ ”

“Survive?” he cut her off, closing the book, throwing it on her pillow, and rising from the bed. His legs were useless, so he seemed to just barely levitate about the ground. “Oh, you’ll find your tricks don’t work on me. As you can see, I’m not like your… other guests.” 

As he said this, he seemed to multiply right before her eyes, gliding in place and leaving a trail of three doppelgangers in a semi-circle before her. Shoulders curling forward tensely, the queen summoned thick shards of ice around her in preparation to attack, but then the other spirit quickly pulled his selves back together and moved away once more. He held up his hands in a pacifying motion, his tone remaining eerily cheerful all the while.

“Hey now, I come in peace! You have nothing to fear from me, Vanessa. If anything, I think you’ll find that I’m as close to a fairy godfather as you’re ever gonna get!”

 _Right…_ Even if his disgusting appearance didn’t cast enough doubt, his disturbing behavior did. Nevertheless, she didn’t know what kind of being she was dealing with. If it came to a serious fight, she could end up destroying the manor. She forced herself to reign in her emotions, still spitting out her words, “Explain yourself.”

“Well, now I don’t know if I want to: You’re rather rude. And here I thought you’d be a little more eager to learn where your prince has gone.”

Vanessa stayed silent. The tension in her body relaxed as her arms hung limp.

The smile in his voice turned triumphant, “You _do_ want to know, don’t you? Love must be a _wonderful_ feeling, for you to desire him after all these years.”

His tone continued to drip with sick ridicule, snapping her out of her immediate daze upon his revelation. He was toying with her feelings, only messing with her head. This was too unreal. All the same, her anger only remanifested in the question, “What did you do to him?!”

“ _Me?_ Nothing—and that’s a very poor choice of words, coming from you,” he scoffed, throwing his hands in the air in a giving fashion and turning his back to her as he crossed the room. “I’m only here to help you both get what’s rightfully owed.”

“Who said I wanted your help?”

“No, you _need_ it. Otherwise, you’re going to spend the rest of eternity here in this empty house and you know it. Is _that_ what you want, _princess?_ I don’t think so…”

The more he spoke, the more she felt herself lose control. Her hands drew into fists at her sides. Behind her, crawling along the floor to scale the walls and doorframe, coils of frost began to build.

“Not all princesses sit trapped in their towers, my dear,” the spirit continued, in a much gentler way now, “Lisbeth, the sister and the six swans—some need to take action. I think you might be one of them.”

That hit her deeply. She tugged at her hair. Had she been going about this all wrong? It was true, in some stories, the heroine needed to face the greatest peril before finding happiness. In _The Six Swans,_ the princess had been forced into years of silence making shirts to rescue her brothers and was nearly burned at the stake because of it. In _The Old Woman in the Wood,_ a young maiden had to break a witch’s curse to save her prince. The witch was dead, but did _his_ curse linger? Was he locked away somewhere, waiting for her arrival instead?

“Where is he…?”

He ignored her, “Of course, even if you succeed, you may not like what you find. And this choice bit of knowledge doesn’t come free.”

Distrust bubbled over desperation once more at this, but only for a moment.

Again, he pressed on, giving her a casual glance over his shoulder, “I have a menagerie of sorts, and I’m always looking for new additions to my roaster. If you find your lover, and all goes as you intend, I guess you’ll live ‘happily, ever after.’” It was hard to catch, but he made a nasty sneer where he said that, “If not, then you come with me. It’s a win-win, really, much better than just staying put here.”

Vanessa asked again, in a much more demanding tone, “ _Where is he?!”_

The snowfall just outside of the manor seemed it grow, in a way it hadn’t for many years, as the winds shifted and rattled the sparse, barren trees across the forsaken landscape. It was a rare night when the moon shone through the thick miasma that blanketed the forest and regularly blotted it out. Soon though, it vanished from sight yet again. 


	2. Act One: Through the Fog, part i

Apparently, it was common practice on this planet to drown a sickness out of the body with lots of soup.

Hat and Bow sat nestled in a mound of pillows in the bedroom they’d dragged from the plush pit to the wide window set over it. It was hard to say whether or not their arctic cruise voyage had been a true success. On one hand, they’d managed to collect three more Time Pieces: On the other, they’d crashed the ship mid-journey and gotten small colds from the frigid waters. It wasn’t the worst of events, and they’d gotten everyone to the lifeboats in one piece, but the two still agreed not to tell anyone the truth about what happened. 

“ _’I already fly a spaceship,_ ’” Bow Kid mumbled, stirring the last few bites of chicken noodles with her spoon as she echoed her friend’s own words spoken a mere moment before disaster. “ _’How different can it be?’”_

The other child sniffed through her mildly stuffed nose, “In my defense, there is no liquid water in space. I can do as many rolls as I want to with no problems.”

Neither was actually upset with the other: It was just their usual banter. Nevertheless, darting around the sinking ship had been a terrifying experience they didn’t want to repeat, and whatever time they had gained from the trip’s early end was mostly lost as they recovered from it. Minor as it was, a foreign virus wasn’t something either of them wanted to toy with. As such, they’d taken Cooking Cat’s advice by allowing themselves a few days to rest. 

They were mind-numbingly boring days—especially with so much left of a wide world to explore staring them in the face from the viewport—but they were still very much-needed. Even back home, free-time was sparse. It didn’t keep them from worrying about the lost Time Pieces remaining, but it was a chance to breathe and let someone take care of them for a change.

Hat Kid stared into her bowl. The soup had already gotten a little cold, giving the noodles a slimy texture as she forced the last of them down. She washed her mouth out with a sip of water next. Cooking Cat said that, if they finished their food, she’d have brownies ready for dessert. The feline had only made them for her once before. The rich, chocolate flavor was like a special delicacy to the alien, and she wasn’t going to miss out.

“Any idea where we’re off to next?” Bow asked. Most of their colds had ebbed, leaving behind only a slight, runny nose for the both of them. “Just tell me it’s not gonna be another, subzero wasteland.”

Scrambling out from under the pillows, Hat crossed over the bedroom to a set of controls next to the door. Within seconds, she connected to the ship’s main computer and pulled up an assortment of data. There was a slight cringe to her voice as she replied, “Well, there is _one_ place left that’s plenty warm.”

Bow raised a skeptical brow, “How warm?”

“Desert warm.”

Bow flopped back into the pillow mound with exaggerated exasperation, dragging one over her face. As Hat continued looking over the data, she shook her head at the sight of flickering signals. The spiritual realms across the planet were a problem all their own, and the supernatural beings that called them home apparently hadn’t abandoned their interest in her Time Pieces either. What each of them wanted from them was beyond her—not that it mattered, since she intended to get them all back anyway, one way or another. It didn’t worry her too much though. Those had become few and far between: It was better to focus on where the hourglasses had landed in mass for now. 

An alarm suddenly rang out through the ship, the one that always signaled an intruder’s presence onboard. Hat Kid had heard it so many times now that she was more than used to it; Bow, however, was startled enough to immediately jolt up from her seat. Both girls gave each other a curious glance, then made their way toward the main deck with their umbrellas in tow. 

They were in their pajamas, but neither of them cared enough to change. There wasn’t anyone on the planet they were trying to impress, and whoever had shown up clearly didn’t care to give them a chance to prepare for their arrival either. 

Unexpectedly though, the intruder turned out to be one of Snatcher’s minions. Although they rarely left Subcon Forest, it wasn’t unheard of. Sometimes, they ventured beyond their borders out of necessity or on special occasions. The two aliens had even seen Snatcher himself—or at least heard him—on the docks before boarding the arctic cruise, though where he went after that was a mystery. Almost as much as why one of his subjects would be here, standing in front of them now. Many of the doll-like beings tended to carry themselves in a restless way. This one, however, fidgeted nonstop, twisting the fabric of their cloak anxiously.

Cooking Cat stood on the level above, near the kitchen doors, also summoned out by the alarm. Upon looking over the three figures below, she quickly sensed the off atmosphere and leaned over the railing, “Is everything alright?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Hat Kid replied, her expression knotted with confusion. She stepped a little closer to the minion, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Um, uh…” This one was more nervous than the others; more like the shy, bodiless Dwellers than the brash, mischievous personality the minions tended to share, inspired by the shadowy overlord that looked after them. Not only that, but the voice seemed fairly young too, if wiser than her supposed ‘age,’ as if she had passed on when she was barely beyond her toddling years. At last, she pointed toward the viewport, “Just l-look out there, at Subcon.”

Curious, if uncertain, the two aliens did as instructed. With her hands on the glass, Hat Kid peered out at the planet below. They weren’t really at the best angle to see the purple, hazy blot that made up the forest from space, no matter how much it contrasted with the world’s natural blues and greens. After a minute though, she found it. 

Sort of… The miasma that constantly hung over the woods already gave them a sickly look, but it had joined with something else: The swirling mass now coiled over the landscape with thick, white streaks, similar to a snowstorm. She felt her heart sink in her chest, all too aware of what the sight undoubtedly meant.

Bow Kid nudged her out of her daze, “What’s going on?” It hadn’t been very long since she’d arrived to the planet to help Hat Kid retrieve the Time Pieces. The latter had tried catching her up on recent events the best she could: There was just _so much_ to cover. Of course, she knew Snatcher’s story already—by extension, Moonjumper’s too—seeing it firsthand was just another thing entirely.

“Vanessa…”

That was all the answer that was really needed. Behind them, the minion released a soft, scared whimper and ducked her head. Too many of them, the queen’s name alone was enough to drag up so many horrifying memories. Nevertheless, this was not the time for fear.

Bow was the first to act, moving back over to the minion and taking them by the shoulders in a consoling way. Hat joined them and tried to pry for more information, “What’s happening down there? Did Snatcher send you to come get us?”

The minion shook her head, “N-no, he doesn’t know I’m h-here.” She began to sob, the idea of getting in trouble with him adding to the already frightening situation. “Please don’t tell! It’s just… the ice is moving again, and we can’t get it to stop! I thought you could do something!”

She couldn’t imagine why. Even if she hadn’t been allowed to use her hats in the manor according to her contract, the alien had learned fast that the ice queen wasn’t something to trifle with. One touch was all it took for her to add her enemies to a grisly collection of frozen statues. 

It wasn’t like she planned on refusing the cry for help, but Bow gave her a worried glance. Her friend had a kind heart—her eyes reflected her desire to go—but she knew as well how this would set their own goals further back. The didn’t have time to waste.

It just seemed that neither did Subcon. Hat Kid forced herself to take a deep breath, “Ok… Let’s get ready and get down there.”

The minion calmed down a bit, “You’re really coming?”

She nodded before starting off back in the direction of her room, “Just give us a minute to grab some things.”

Bow Kid soon followed after her, walking close at her side to whisper, “Are you sure about this? There’s still a lot of Time Pieces we have to find.”

“I think some of the spirits have a few of them anyway,” she returned in a voice just as quiet, “We can keep an eye out while we’re in Subcon.”

For a moment, Bow went quiet, then seemed to laugh to herself, “You know, we’re breaking so many rules, right?”

Where to even begin? Losing the Time Pieces and then lying about it to their superiors, letting anyone other than themselves onboard the ship, getting too involved in the affairs of a strange world that didn’t center around their work as clocksmiths… They were in a heap of trouble. Still, that was only if anyone from their organization found out. This world was stable enough and so unimportant to their people that it was considered to be nothing more than a pitstop on this side of the galaxy—one that only she, out of all of her people, had used in years. It was just her sad luck that their information on the planet was beyond dated, surprising her when one if its inhabitants had come knocking on the hatch of her ship.

And now she was deeply involved in the planets’ affairs. She had no choice to be: Even if she tried distancing herself, her conscientious nature wouldn’t allow it for long. It was the same for Bow.

Hat Kid called over her shoulder to Cooking Cat, “I think we’re going to need those brownies to go.”

She heard her _tssk_ in response, “You alien kids don’t know how to stop for a moment, do you? Well, fine! Just don’t blame me when you make yourselves sick again!”

* * *

Hardly more than an hour later, the ship was steered around the planet to suspend itself over the forest. Thanks to the storm, they’d had to drop down further along the trail and take the long walk further in to reach the village—now bundled up in heavy coats against the rapidly settling chill. It gave them the chance to see just how bad things were getting. 

It was just a light snowfall, but it was constant. The ice was moving from the direction of the manor in an arc, stretching around the whole of the forest itself as though to block as paths of escape. Grey clouds settled in above the canopy of trees, and a thick layer of fog rolled in from the burning wood as opposing elements clashed. 

They were greeted by Snatcher’s enraged shouts well-before they spotted him in the heart of the village with his back turned to them, “I can’t be gone for one week— _one week_ —without something going wrong! Now, which one of you attracted the ice witch?! That’s all I want to know!” As if recalling that he was mostly dealing with already panicked children, he added, “I’m not mad, just _very_ disappointed!”

He was more irate than usual. So much so that Hat Kid thought twice about giving him any of the usual snark she’d started after their battle and BFF contract. The minion they’d been traveling with now snuck away behind them, joining her allies at the far side of the village. Normally, Snatcher’s influence over the forest was so great that—coupled with generations of vast knowledge and his own, otherworldly power—he could carry an air of confident authority. However, with the queen roused and his home threatened once again, all of that was starting to shatter, nevermind his personal grievances with her.

Clearly, it didn’t wipe away all of his wits though. On top of attacking the spreading ice with his own magic, he directed the minions to use cherry bombs and any tools on-hand against it. Even the other Dwellers seemed eager to help, if only because the queen was a far bigger danger than Snatcher in their eyes. 

It didn’t take him long to notice them either, raising his hand, in an irritated, claw-like manner as he glanced over. “ _Oh_ , not you two on top of this! Can’t you runts see I’ve got enough of a mess on my hands?! _Beat it!_ ”

Bow wasn’t used to the ghost’s threatening demeanor just yet, and thus kept back while Hat took a stubborn step forward, arms folded across her chest. “We know,” the latter pressed, “That’s why we’re here to help!”

For a moment, Snatcher balked at them, then his mouth pulled back in a half-grin of belittling disbelief. It was a look that ticked a nerve Hat Kid didn’t even know she had. No matter no many insults he threw at her, that expression got to her the most. After all, she’d not only completed every task he’d given her without fail, but had beaten him alone! And he’d been there when she fought against Mustache Girl too!

It didn’t stop him from scoffing and shooing them away with a flick of his wrist, “Yeah, I don’t think so. Run along, kiddos, and let the dead handle this.”

As he turned away, Hat Kid ran in front of him, pointing her umbrella at him fiercely. “But you _need_ help! Admit it!” She waved her free hand toward a line of ice spikes, “Vanessa is one of the strongest spirits here. If she manages to turn this place into a winter wasteland, it’ll only let her work in her element and there could be no stopping her! There has to be something we can do!”

“ _Nope!_ ”

The young girl didn’t have time to blink before she was airborne, Bow screaming her name after her. Snatcher had grabbed her by the back of her coat, tossing her ungraciously behind him. She landed in a cluster of fallen leaves, which exploded around her on contact and cushioned her fall. They were wet and mucky from the poor weather.

Bow Kid just stood there, shocked. Thus far, Snatcher’s first impressions hadn’t been the best on her. The other child was certain that her friend wondered why she even bothered trying to help him to begin with. Leaves crumpled under her as she stood up and wiped the ones that stuck to her off. It was because he wasn’t as bad as anyone thought, as much as he tried to be. 

Her hat had flown off mid-tumble. Two of the minions that had seen what happened picked it up and ran to her side to check on her. Snatcher didn’t spare her another look, too busy with the maddening task at hand. It was taking enough effort to hold a line and protect the village alone, much less wherever the ice was expanding throughout the rest of the forest. For every pillar they shattered or disintegrated, another slowly grew in its place. The pond in the heart of the village was freezing over, a thin, frigid layer wobbling above the slight current. 

Her lips drew back in a firm pout. She screamed at him, “Stop being stupid!”

“I already told you: _Get lost_ , kid! Learn when to quit for once in your life.”

Why wouldn’t he just let her help? What was his problem?! He still didn’t seem to care if she died—most of the ghosts she met really didn’t—so what was wrong this time? She figured he’d leap at the chance to force her to work again, with a fresh contract at the ready.

The fog was getting thicker, advancing upon the village from the opposite side. Clearly, the burning wood was fighting just as hard to keep the storm at bay. It made Hat Kid think of the fire spirits, and she hoped they were fine in all of this. Since water and ice opposed their element, it could sometimes be a common danger.

A cherry bomb went off not far from her. Patches of ethereal flames from Snatcher’s attacks licked at the ice in random bursts before fizzling out. A smile crept on Hat Kid’s face. She tugged off her pack, hunting for one of her badges, then raced back over to Bow and tugged at her arm to follow. 

Only after they were out of earshot did she begin to explain, “The fire spirits can create barriers that even Snatcher couldn’t destroy. I’m not sure how strong they’d be against the ice, but it’s something. If we can get their help, maybe they can hold off the storm a bit.”

“Maybe, but why would they help?” Bow asked, “I thought you said that they didn’t like Snatcher. I thought you said that _you_ weren’t exactly on the best terms with them anymore either.”

She said nothing. That would be hard part. 


	3. Act One: Through the Fog, part ii

It was Bow’s idea to bring gifts.

Their packs were heavier than usual, both alien girls loaded down with a sack of cooking charcoal along with their typical burdens. They’d had to backtrack, returning to the ship to get them from their feline friend along with a paint set from the gallery. They were peace offerings, an extra precaution in case the fire spirits really did harbor any hard feelings against them.

At one point, Hat Kid felt nothing but fascination toward the fun-loving, mischievous spirits—if always tempered by a wariness against their love of arson. Now, while she did still like them, she better understood their dangerous potential. Sometimes, they made a habit of stealing people away to their realm, like Mustache Girl and herself. It’d taken the help of her friends and a whole lot of luck for her to escape.

Not everyone did, such as the passionate artist, Kit, who watched over her during that time, who was responsible for creating the cursed frames used for their ritual fires. Rather than ever finding escape, she’d twisted imprisonment into familial love. The saddest part was that, in a way, she was right. The foxes were clever and could even master the human tongue, but they weren’t fully sentient and had only good intentions according to _their_ nature. It was easier to compare the spirits to pets trying to keep their master from ever leaving the house—but with more than enough power to keep them trapped inside.

Granted, with the woman’s mutated body and broken mind, they didn’t even have to try now. Hat Kid would never let the same thing happen to her or Bow. Luckily, the Trailblazer Badge she carried limited that risk. It’d been a gift from the Badge Seller, and it gave her the ability to find her way in and out of spiritual realms. They were usually impossible to navigate through, the energies that protected them only allowing passage to those who made their home there or those marked by the spirits themselves.

Still, even though she’d been marked by the foxes, even with the footprint-like impressions that shown before her through her Dweller mask thanks to the badge’s power, they journey was difficult. Fog now consumed the whole of the burning wood, obscuring the way ahead. Here, the snow melted before it could even touch the ground. Any ice that managed to spawn instantly evaporated with a hiss of steam at their feet. It was clear as mud, and so hot that the girls took off their coats and tied them at their waists.

At least it assured her that the fire spirits were probably safe. It was more than likely that they didn’t even know anything was wrong, since fog like this spawned throughout their home when it rained. Hat Kid squinted up at the treetops, eying the polychromatic fires that trailed their branches. She couldn’t spot any of the treehouses that marked the Firelands’ borders anymore, so they had to already be fairly deep in.

“Are we close?” Bow Kid asked, eying the surrounding gloom cautiously. 

“I think so,” she nodded, “We need to make sure we stick together. It’ll be easy to get lost.”

“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”

They’d just passed a large tree when the stillness was interrupted by the rustle of leaves. The pair stopped in their tracks at the noise, hunting for its source. Not even a moment later, three swift blurs erupted from a pile near Bow. Hat cried out to her in warning, but her friend was already prepared, spinning on her heel to face the newcomers and then tuck-and-rolling out of the way as they lunged for her. With Hat focused on tracing their path, Bow focused on defense. She already had her Brewer Hat ready, grabbing a vile of blue potion from its strap and launching it at one of their assailants. 

Hat Kid had faced these creatures before: Wind Weasels. They almost always fought in trios using sneak tactics like this. Thankfully, it only took really one or two good hits to beat them. She wasted no time, launching herself forward to thrust her umbrella at the closest of them. The third tried to strike from the right with a wide slash of one of its sickle-like limbs. She turned to face it with a ready swing of her own, landing a clean hit against its stomach and knocking it back.

Bow moved in to finish the first, this time also attacking with her umbrella. Still trying to recover from the explosion of potion that now coated its fur, the weasel had no opportunity to dodge. She sent it rolling along the ground before it vanished in a puff of air as its kind always did. Bow then joined Hat at her side, the girls moving in synch as if it came naturally to them. The pair went back-to-back, repelling the last of their targets in near unison as the final two weasels dove for them only to be batted away.

Usually, there were some foxes patrolling their borders, but the fog seemed to have deterred them that day, if there were any around at all. Hat Kid remembered the Firelands’ unnaturally lazy state during the rains, when the spirits mostly kept to their dens. Clearly, it allowed others like the weasels to have freer range over the area. 

They stayed alert for any further sign of danger, which they didn’t have to wait for long. The weasels played guard in the fire spirits’ absence, appearing from bushes or other large piles of leaves. They were quick as ever, but often gave away their positions with that same, telltale rustle as they braced to attack—giving the kids a chance to readily counter when they finally sprang up for a fight. 

The weasels weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the weather either. Although they seemed to enjoy it less, fire rats also roamed the wood the deeper in they went, searching hungrily for whatever they could find. If any of them recognized Hat Kid, they didn’t take kindly to her return, immediately charging at the two children on-sight. However, so long as they were taken out one-by-one, they were even easier to fend off than the weasels were. 

It helped to have a partner working alongside her again too. Besides the basics, physical training wasn’t something kids their age were taught heavily as clocksmiths: They were still learning general studies and how to conduct mostly simple tasks for future missions. Those a little more advanced, who were given the opportunity to go out into the field, were still expected to remain on their ships, away from any possible threat. In the beginning, Hat practiced using her unorthodox weapon on crows and mafia goons—with Mustache Girl at her side. She hadn’t seen the rebel-turned-villain since they’d last fought, and wondered if Bow would get along with her if they ever crossed paths once more.

Hat and Bow continued to cover each other’s backs as they worked their way through the wood. The latter smirked as she twisted around a tree for cover, then struck the rat that chased after her with a backward swing, “Should we be keeping score?”

“I don’t think it would matter at this point,” Hat teased back, jumping over one rat that tried to scratch her, blocking the bite of another, and then whacking them both. Although the rodents were easy combatants, their sheer numbers were beginning to exhaust them. It was hard to tell how many they’d fought through by then.

At long last, however, both the fog and trees were staring to clear a bit to instead give way to the orange backdrop of the Firelands’ searing landscape. When they were close enough to see its familiar, barren clearings, Hat Kid signaled the other child to charge past the remaining rodents. As they ran, Bow tossed a pair of potion vials behind her as a parting gift—making it impossible for them to keep following as the girls raced away.

The large, blue explosion that blossomed at the treeline also signaled their arrival to the fire spirits. Hat Kid slowed back down when she saw the first foxes, perked up at attention from the high rocks they’d been lounging on. The area was still hazy, but their fur shown like beacons through the mist. Nevertheless, it was hard to read their expressions from a distance. 

Bow Kid hushed in awe when she saw them. While she was a great tinker, she always had an interest in animals. Maybe it was because there were so few of them on their own world, not counting the leviathans than roamed the distorted skies. It was actually one of the things she loved most about this planet; its wide variety of life. Any reservations she came with seemed dashed at the sight of their graceful, lithe figures.

Hat Kid still held tight to her own, especially as the nearest fire spirit rose in place to stand on its toes and peer at them closer. Its ears fidgeted in a curious way and then, after a long pause, it went down on all fours in a pouncing position. Tail wiggling behind it, the fox threw itself toward them.

 _“Hatted child!”_ it cried excitedly, loud enough to echo across the area, “You back! You back!”

Hat Kid felt the tension in her shoulders ease at the happy squeal, thankful that it didn’t seem like the fire spirits carried a grudge as she’d feared. What _was_ unnerving, however, was the mob that soon came bounding toward them like a rolling wave of flames. The spirit’s shout had not only been heard by those around to see the aliens for themselves; it also drew the attention of the foxes ducked within the nearby trenches that cut through the land. Soon, tall, fuzzy ears and long snouts of all sizes peeped up to see what the fuss was about and came running not a second after.

“You back! You back!”

“Hatted child here! She’s come back!”

“New friend! Who friend?!”

At this range, without their sprint hats in hand, there was no chance of outrunning them even if they planned to. Instead, all Hat and Bow could do was brace themselves against the storm. Nearly knocked to the ground right from the start, waist-high pups scampered around their bodies and grabbed at their arms to swing by. Slightly older spirits, at the girls’ own height, circled them curiously to get a scent for where they’d been and tug at the extra layers they wore. The eldest stayed the most relaxed, keeping the most distance, but energetically bouncing in place as if it took every effort just to contain themselves. All the while, they continued to shout over one another:

“You come back! You stay now? You stay this time?”

“You bored? Shadow boring? We have fun!”

“How are you back? Who this?”

The last set of questions were asked by the older and more thoughtful foxes. Hat Kid quickly took her mask off, sticking it under her arm to cover the Trailblazer Badge. She didn’t think they’d fully understand what her badges were for to begin with—not without seeing their abilities firsthand at least—but she did worry that they might be able to sense whatever powers the Badge Seller used to make that one. It was meant to be a secret, and there was no telling how the spirits would react to a tool that let them slip past their homes’ barriers so easily.

Her friend jumped in, quickly shifting the attention onto herself. “I’m Bow!” she introduced with a light giggle, tickled by the pups still curling around her legs.

“ _Bo!_ ” some of the fire spirits repeated, if largely in a choppier fashion. They seemed thrilled to add the name to their modest vocabulary, “Bo! Bo!”

Hat Kid quietly slipped the Dweller mask into her pack as more and more focus fell on her companion. Whatever they thought of the sudden intrusion, they were clearly curious and felt no fear. Why that was—especially with the warnings the Badge Seller had given her—was beyond her. 

She had a sneaking suspicion that the foxes could read feelings about people though, to get a general sense of their personalities and pick their favorites from that. Kit’s passion and motherly tenderness exuded a genuine warmth that was impossible to dismiss. Mustache Girl’s temper gave her a fiery determination that refused to burn out. Even Snatcher—who was nothing if not antagonistic toward them—still couldn’t scare them away from him or his home, so maybe even they sensed there was more to his demonic persona, just as she herself knew.

Bow continued to laugh, clapping her hands as the foxes kept chanting her name, seemingly bouncing to it. Hat never would really describe the other child as having a fire about her; however, her gentle and kind nature was something that could win anyone over. Maybe it was that that they sensed, allowing them to throw a bit of caution to the wind.

As much of a relief as it was for things to be going this well, Hat Kid figured that it was best to take the opportunity to hurry things along. She looked at the older fire spirits again, uncertain if the youngsters would remember the nickname she’d given the painter, “Can you take us to Kit?”

The stared at her for a long moment, as if struggling to decipher what she meant themselves. Finally, they gekkered briefly in their own tongue to each other before one of them looked back at her with a soft hum, “Kit. And kits. Follow us!”

It was easier said than done, wading through the pups that only tagged along after them all while keeping clustered around their legs. The walk was slow and the girls had to be careful not to step on any of them. Meanwhile, only more spirits joined them as they crossed the open field like a parade of lights. 


	4. Act One: Through the Fog, part iii

They were led to the firepits, where the foxes’ ashes returned after their ritual dances were complete so that they could be reborn from the flames anew. Even here, the constant bustle that came with feeding their young had slowed to a lethargic crawl. The few guards left stationed there popped up from their relaxed, stretched poses across the rocks at the sudden commotion charged by the girls’ arrival. Soon enough, they were all yipping at the pair eagerly, if reigned in just enough to hold their positions.

It made it easier to spot Kit among them. She was kneeling in the heart of one of the pits, heedless of the pool of eternal embers that surrounded her. It looked like she was trying to hug a rolling ball of golden fire. However, upon second glance, Hat Kid could make out the shape of bushy tails and tiny limbs all clustered together as they fought for the woman’s attention. It was some of the pups, old enough now to wobble on unbalanced baby legs, if still on all-fours. Their hides had turned a richer color and were more stable since she’d last seen them. They scrambled over each other to be pet, wordlessly warbling in content.

Hat Kid called Kit’s name and the woman’s ears twitched. She glanced over her shoulder at them with a surprised, blank expression: Disbelieving eyes stared at the girls as if they were only hallucinations spawned from a lonely mind. At last though, she stood and turned to face them, a faint grin tugging at her lips and her hands held close to her chest. Her voice was soft and a little tired, “Little one… You’re back!”

“ _But_ not here to stay,” the child quickly added, her own hands held out pacifistically. Some of the fire spirits whined when they heard this. Before the topic could turn sour, she and Bow shrugged off their packs. “It’s just a visit. We’ve got gifts for everyone!”

It took a bit of effort to wriggle the sacks of charcoal free, the backpacks stretched flat on the ground as the girls inched them out. Curiosity tied to the promising scent of ‘food,’ however, lured some of the fire spirits over to help. No sooner were the sacks free, they gekkered with approval and eager hands worked together to tear them open. Briquettes of charcoal scattered and were picked up like dinner rolls, the foxes giving the rest of their kind at least enough time to grab one piece each despite their greedy appetites.

Since they were a harder variety than what the creatures were typically used to, they teethed at the charcoal to break them apart. Luckily for the young, their own fangs were much stronger now, and they especially seemed to enjoy the bricks bursting to flame in their mouths. It also gave the girls and Kit a moment to talk without interruption.

Hat Kid pulled out the paint set next, offering it up with both hands. It was messy and used, with blotches of color staining the white plastic between the cups of dried pigment. It seemed like a good idea originally—something quickly on-hand that catered to the artist’s interests—but now it felt like an embarrassment compared to the materials she must’ve been used to working with. Hat mumbled, “It’s just a kiddie set…”

If Kit minded, it didn’t show: If anything, her face lit up brighter than ever at the present. “ _Watercolors!_ ” she exclaimed with a cheerful smile, “I can’t remember the last time I’ve used these. Thank you!”

She smiled, feeling a little surer of herself as she asked, “You’re not mad then? I mean… no hard feelings about me leaving before?”

“Why would I be mad? This just isn’t where you really belong, right? You have your own home to get back to.” The woman tucked the paints under her arm to ruffle her hair in an affectionate way, giving the girl a little bit of hope, but then she continued, “And I know you meant well: It’s not like you were trying to confuse me.”

Hat Kid inwardly cringed. For a second, she’d thought that Kit might’ve woken up to the gravity of her own situation as well, but that seemed far from the case. If anything, she appeared to have doubled-down on her beliefs, which was probably bad…

Kit’s expression then turned to own of giddy mischief as she then glanced around before bending to whisper something to her as if it was a childish secret. “You don’t have to worry about me though… I made a friend,” she giggled, “I wish you could meet him! He’s such an interesting person, and we have a lot in common too!”

Did the fire spirits drag somebody else to their home? Even if Hat Kid had only seen it in scattered memories, it didn’t seem like enough time had passed for them to not only successfully find and capture a new person they liked enough to keep around permanently, but for that person’s body to alter to the Fireland’s magic as well. 

She didn’t get a chance to ask though, as Bow—surrounded by a mass of young pups as she played with them—brought the conversation back to their mission, “I hate cutting things short, but we need to go.” She stood up, plucking off a young spirit that had climbed onto her head, “We need your help.”

At once, Kit’s smile fell. Ears dipping back, her gaze flickered between the two girls, baffled by the sudden change in tone. 

Bow left Hat to continue from there. “The ice is starting to spread again,” she began, biting her lip, “There’s going to be another storm, and it maybe even worse than last time.”

As she explained the situation, some of the older foxes looked up from their snacks knowingly. In contrast to their usual, lighthearted air, they were quiet and serious. However many years or cycles of rebirth had passed, it was clear that many of them still remembered.

Apparently, so did Kit. She stepped back and her eyes glazed over. Hat Kid could see her mind teleporting to another time and place; sealed away in the dark, cramped confines of one of the spirit’s dens where they’d guarded her from the cold only for the fire to eat up her life after.

Hat Kid pressed on, “We thought, maybe, that the fire spirits could use their barriers to help stop it. Already though, the woman was shaking her head. “ _Please_ , _Kit!_ I know you don’t think so, but they’ll _listen_ to you. _You_ can get them to help us! Come with us!”

That distant look continued to hold over her, making her seem only half-aware of her own words. “It doesn’t matter…” she muttered, “It’s too strong to just stop. They couldn’t do it last time: We can’t do it now.” She pressed her hands to her chest, “We barely managed to keep the fires going back then.”

“But you won’t have to face it alone this time! Snatcher and the others are already trying to fight it off. You can all work together—!”

“ _I don’t want anything to do with that horrible Shadow!”_ she cut her off, momentarily losing control of herself as small sparks kicked up near her feet. She quickly reigned herself in, taking a deep breath, “And even if I did, I’m too frightened… It’s safe here, not like in that forest. We can’t help you: _I_ can’t help you…”

Hat Kid grimaced, looking around her at the foxes. None of them rallied to her side though. She guessed if they intended to go against Vanessa, then they would’ve already done it by now. Knowing them, they would’ve turned the manor into one, giant bonfire if they could. It was awful to think of the queen being that powerful, enough to keep even them at bay.

Bow hugged the pup still in her arms, “If it gets too cold, what happens to the fire spirits?”

From what she’d seen, normally, they could handle it pretty well even if they didn’t like it. Maybe they wouldn’t risk staying out in the snow for any great length of time, but their internal flames were so strong that it wouldn’t hurt them. Since Kit was fine in the water, they could probably even swim for brief periods if they weren’t so averse to it.

However, that only considered the healthy adults: The ones who’d fed well over the course of their lifespans and had more than enough firepower to spare. Their young, meanwhile…

Kit seemed to reach the same conclusion as Hat Kid, an even more horrified look than before stretching across her face as she stared at the pups that encompassed them. Normally, they were safe in the Firelands, cozily nestled in their embers and unbothered by the change of seasons that cycled through the mortal world. If the storm came here like before, they wouldn’t survive. It was too soon.

* * *

It wasn’t long before they started making their way toward the village, this time with a whole company of spirits marching back with them. The simple choice to go toward the incoming danger herself had practically been all the convincing the foxes needed to join them, if only out of fear of losing her either to Snatcher or the ice. The eldest foxes had split their numbers in half to ensure that the Firelands would still be protected, but most of the adolescents tagged along on the trip. With their willing guidance, Hat Kid didn’t even have to risk revealing her Trailblazer Badge.

Nevertheless, none of them appreciated the fog. 

“Ew! Icky!”

“Nasty, _nasty!_ ”

Every time one of them stepped on a patch of wet earth, they cried out in disgust. Hat and Bow smirked at each other, each holding back a fit of giggles. The spirits kept their eyes focused on the ground, gingerly tiptoeing around any water or ice that they stumbled across. If flecks of water from rapidly forming, then melting icicles dripped down on them from the branches above, they immediately tensed and sputtered, shaking or batting their heads.

Kit walked slightly behind the girls, arms braced around herself as she kept to her own thoughts. She looked fine, but dragged her feet as if dreading every step away from the fiery realm. The young aliens bundled their coats over themselves once again as they began to see the shapes of treehouses through the haze and a slight chill settled over them once more. As they did, Hat Kid wondered if the woman could catch cold as well; however, she didn’t show it. 

Instead, the further they drew away from the Firelands, the more Kit’s figure seemed to ignite. As their surroundings grew darker, she had a _literal_ _glow_ about her—just like the fire spirits themselves, radiating warmth and light. It reflected not only the raging heat that made up her core, but also the likely permanence of her current state. Although it was sad to think that she might never regain her full humanity, maybe it was for the best. After all, it was that same fire that kept her alive, if only now as a spirit herself.

The woman suddenly stopped, halting their party. Confused, Hat and Bow followed her gaze through the fog to where it landed on a sole, still figure only a few meters from where they stood. It had a humanoid shape and grey color that nearly camouflaged it in the mist. Hat Kid’s heart almost stopped when she noticed it was missing its head.

“That’s not one of your friends, right?” Kit asked, “One of those… gremlins? That work for that nasty Shadow?”

It moved, turning in place to face them. There was only a second delay before the possessed statue rushed toward in a burst of speed. Having faced them before, Hat quickly grabbed Bow by the arm and fled. Even with her potions, she’d never been able to fight them off! Their heavy, stone bodies protected them from the blue concoction and were too strong against both her umbrella and regular explosives. All she’d ever been able to do was run!

Facing the new threat, some of the foxes launched their own attacks at it. However, rock having an advantage over fire, the spray of flames did nothing. Kit gasped through her teeth, stepping forward to cut the statue’s path toward the others and summoning one of her long whips of molded ashes to her hand. With a sharp swing, she caught it by the leg, tripping it up enough to make it collapse.

It wasn’t enough. Soon, the statue started dragging itself after them. Panicked, Kit jumped up into one of the nearby trees and tugged as hard as she could to hold the determined monstrosity back. Two of the fire spirits climbed up to her in a spiral of fire to help. Even with all three hanging, feet braced against the thick branch under them, the statue continued to fight to go forward. It reached out toward them menacingly.

Then came a bright, furious eruption of energy. The statue left struggling in place and given no warning beyond a thin circle of light marked through the carpet of fallen leaves, it was a direct hit. It went flying, one of its legs breaking off at the knee as it slammed against another tree and tore through its branches before landing back on solid ground some distance away. 

Hat and Bow watched on in silence behind the cover of a fallen trunk. A dark voice rumbled behind them, “Care to explain what you’re still doing here in my forest _,_ _kids…_?”

It was like hearing the threatening quiver of a rattlesnake’s tail. Snatcher’s voice hadn’t fallen to that scary a timbre since Hat Kid had fought him, and when the two children looked back, the steady glare leveled their way looked heated enough to vaporize them on the spot. They offered up an awkward, cautious wave in greeting. He didn’t react.

“My minions said they saw you run this way. I’m pretty sure I told you to get out,” he continued, seething. He glanced at the nearby foxes, “Instead, you brought the fire hazards over to make an even bigger mess of things.”

Before Hat Kid could react, Snatcher grabbed Bow by the front of her coat, knocking her hat to the ground. Hat picked it up and ripped off on of the vials, but held still as Snatcher braced her friend in front of him. Bow tugged at his fingers, trying to pry his grip away from her in a panic. For all their good intentions, he was furious with them. 

“You know… I just realized that tricky, little contract of ours never mentioned anything about _additional_ clients,” he mused, drawing Bow closer to his face, “Since you both seem _so intent_ on sticking around, I then don’t see why I should pass on getting a free soul!”

There was a harsh snap and a fluid jerk of motion as something coiled around Snatcher’s wrist and pulled his arm away. Kit had managed to scramble down from her tree and sneak to their side. In one, quick move she dropped her whip and ripped Bow Kid out of his hand, cradling the girl against her tightly as she leapt back with her hardened stare never leaving the phantom. Even at a safe distance, she stood tense. Bow looked back at Hat worriedly. 

A long moment of silence passed. It was only broken by the faint, rustling sound of the statue trying to crawl away through the leaves. With a wave of his hand, Snatcher attacked it a second time with another eruption of energy, shattering it to pieces. The now freed ghost was almost impossible to see through the haze, its already translucent body oddly a similar grey to the fog as opposed to having the bright, colorful form of other Dwellers. It vanished easily, retreating to who knew where—likely in search of another body to possess. 

Snatcher and Kit continued to stare each other down with mutual disdain. Hat Kid moved in between them, facing the former, “We got the fire spirits because you can’t handle Vanessa on your own!” She waved at the burning foliage nearby. There were fewer now, but still enough to keep the ice and snow from sticking. “Their barriers could keep the ice from spreading! Why won’t you listen?”

“The most they could do is delay it!” he sneered, “That’s all! Either Vanessa herself will come and make the final push in or she’ll have her brainless soldiers try to take them out first. And I don’t even want to think of what they could set ablaze before that.”

“What’s your plan then?! Because it didn’t look like you were doing such a good job at keeping the ice back before!”

“It would’ve helped if I didn’t have to leave the village to chase after you brats!”

“No one asked you to!”

He looked like he could scream. Lips pulling back into an ugly snarl, Snatcher wiped his face in exasperation and tried to reign back his fury. 

Although most of the fire spirits kept back, one of the younger foxes around their size crept around and grabbed him by the tail. Riding it up as he flinched in reaction, it warbled in delight, either not knowing or not caring about the potential danger it was in. Not a second later, the ghost launched the creature back over to the rest of its kind, where it crashed into two of them in a rolling heap.

At last he groaned, as if simply too tired to argue any further. If reason wasn’t already against him, he was outnumbered. He could try chasing the fire spirits back to their domain, but he couldn’t ensure that none of them would get past him—not to mention the two aliens were bound to just try something else. He threw a hand in the air, “Fine! Fine… We’ll divide them across the forest where their barriers won’t be in the way, but if any of them cause trouble, I’ll incinerate them on the spot!”

It was as much clearance as they were going to get. With no time to waste, Snatcher vanished ahead to rejoin the minions and prepare for their arrival. Kit put Bow Kid back down, checking her over and then muttering an insult at Snatcher’s expense under her breath. Hat was about to join them, but stopped at the feeling of someone tugging at her cape. Another fire spirit had collected the cracked vase the statue left behind. It held it out to her in offering, revealing the shimmering Time Piece lodged inside.


	5. Act Two: Battle in the Bog, part i

As the fire spirits were organized across Subcon Forest, Hat and Bow took advantage of the moment’s peace by sneaking into Snatcher’s tree for a brief and well-needed nap. By the time they woke up a few hours later, the barriers were already set in place. Against the snowfall, the multicolored walls of flame seemed to paint the dark, woodland landscape like tiny auroras sweeping through the trees.

Keeping most of the usual trails clear for travel, they were primarily focused toward shielding the village and blocking off the worst of the expansion that bloomed from the already frozen civilization that the Dwellers once called home. The fog only worsened, drowning out even the thick miasma that always consumed the forest, but the ice was at last forced back. It could hardly even get close to the barriers, and when it did—as if to illustrate Vanessa’s blinding outrage at the halt of her advance—it rammed them in sudden, crude bursts of motion. 

The spirits would need to take shifts. They would be maintaining the barriers for extreme lengths of time, without the overwhelming firepower that would radiate inside them at the end of their cycles. Keeping up that kind of magic for so long would result in a literal burnout and leave them weak to attacks. Therefore, there were two other groups that rotated in and out of those positions: One to give them time to rest and the other to collect fuel for the fires and protect the dancers. Some of the minions helped as well.

Planning this seemed to be the only ceasefire between Snatcher and Kit, who both immediately went back to casual insults and keeping each other at a distance as soon as the task was done. The woman had been gathering whatever dry timber she could find for the fire spirits, but now sat in the grass just outside of Snatcher’s tree—running her hands across the course blades with intense fascination, the feeling strange and new after well over a lifetime spent in the foxes’ arid home. The phantom sent some of his minions out to spy on Vanessa, to track the ice and see where the queen might be lurking. Currently, he hunted through his small collection of books for anything useful; however, if there was any sort of clue to help them stop Vanessa, he was bound to have found it already. 

The two girls each propped against an arm of his plush chair, they watched him in silence for a long while. Heavy, aged texts were scattered open upon the tabletop. He paced in front of them with one in his hands, flipping through its pages in frustration. Occasionally, he’d scan over the rest once more with his eyes to check if he was on the right track, but ultimately would resort to just picking up yet another book to study. At that point, his shelves had been picked clean and he’d had to gather more from his lab-like arena.

Even when she’d been forced to work for him, Hat Kid had never seen Snatcher so rattled. He was always good at masking it with a quip or angry outburst, but she could tell. His attention would tear apart, as if—behind that furious visage—he was constantly calculating the full weight of the whatever the poor situation was at the time. 

First, she’d had to give him the news about the missing Dwellers in the Horizon under Moonjumper’s rule: Now, this. Even if she hadn’t sunk the artic cruise, she doubted he’d even had a chance to enjoy his vacation. Since she’d never seen him onboard, she assumed he’d been loaded onto another ship by accident. In hindsight though, maybe that was for the best. Facing against icy water was probably the last thing he would’ve needed.

As a minion dropped off another stack of texts on the floor and left, Hat Kid raised her voice, “If the fire spirits won’t be enough, is there anyone else would could ask for help? Subcon used to be crowded with all kinds of spirits, right? Maybe we could find them too.”

The sneer already plastered on Snatcher’s face twisted even further in disgust. He didn’t look back at her, “Even if I needed anyone’s help, the spirits that stuck around this forest aren’t exactly the sort to hand any out.”

He made a fair point. The fire spirits didn’t mind him too much, but there was a good chance the others hated him. According to what she’d heard, there’d been a kind of free-for-all after Vanessa’s initial storm so long ago, with every spirit of the forest fighting to regain the territory they’d lost because of her. That didn’t even include the monstrosities that invaded the woods to feed on the miasma that would forever after loom over it. The difference, however, between all of them and Snatcher was that he’d won. Some were obliterated and others forced into their own, tiny corners, but Snatcher commanded full control over the bulk of Subcon.

Still, Vanessa had to be a bigger concern for them. “They can’t have that much of a grudge…”

“You’d be surprised,” he countered, “A lot of them can live off that sort of thing, and would sooner watch their homes be destroyed and move on somewhere else before letting go of their hurt pride.”

If it weren’t for how much he cared about the Dwellers, then it sounded like they’d get along just fine… Hat Kid kept that thought to herself though. Instead, she got up, stretched, and peered out at the forest. She couldn’t spot any of the dormant remains of the giant skeletons that she knew were scattered across the woods. They were powerful, but she didn’t even consider trying to wake one: They were hardly more than mindless beasts. Where there other elementals hiding someplace? It was hard to say…

Soon enough, her gaze fell on the line of the trees in the distance that marked the edge of the swamp, their thick, draping layers of moss plain to see even through the steady mist. The idea that came to her mind made sense, but a part of her inwardly rejected it all the same. Nevertheless, she looked back at the ghost and offered, “What about the swamp spirits?”

Snatcher didn’t like it any better, chuffing, “They’d be the _last_ ones I’d ever ask for help, kiddo.”

The feeling was mutual. Although she’d only vaguely caught a glimpse of them beneath the water on her way to find Subcon’s well, they’d been one of the biggest dangers she’d faced in the forest. Long, lithe bodies darting beneath the surface, they’d tried ensnaring her and dragging her down with their nimble tails and hand-like manifestations of sludge launching at her from the gloom. No amount of fighting or begging deterred them, so all she’d been able to do to escape was find walkways or safe patches of earth to maneuver across the bog. They didn’t seem like beings that could be reasoned with.

Still, they were physically strong and a kind of water elemental. That would at least make them a good match against the headless statues, meaning they could offer some protection to the fire spirits. 

Bow Kid soon joined her side, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and followed her gaze. The snowfall had ebbed and was having trouble sticking, but hadn’t stopped. “I don’t think that ice queen of yours is going to give you much of a choice.”

At last, Snatcher looked up from his book with an annoyed frown, “Like I said before, I’m not even keen on letting those fire spirits wander my forest so freely. They, Vanessa, _and you_ are all already stubborn thorns in my side, and I’d prefer to keep the pest infestation to a minimum. Chances are, they’ll only do more harm than good.”

“You thought the same thing about the fire spirits.”

He gave a resigned sigh, looking back and forth at the two aliens with a deadpan glare. He couldn’t keep a constant eye on them: Sooner or later, they’d run off again to bring either help or chaos back with them with the best of intentions. All he could do was offer some direction to keep them from being that added liability. 

He caved, dropping the book on the table and waving his hand, “Well, you know your way to the swamp by now. If you want to look for trouble, go ahead. Ask for Thane Fen. He hates me, but who knows: You might be able to talk some sense into him.”

That was a name Hat hadn’t heard before, “Thane Fen?”

“Thane _of the_ Fen. I’m pretty sure he’s still in charge of the swamp spirits anyway. If not, they’ll have just given the name to next fish in line.”

Their new goal set, the girls gave themselves a few more minutes to gather their belongings before making the short trip to the swamp. Aside from the silence that had replaced the steady chirrup of insects and the thin slush that floated above the water, wading between stalks of tall grass, it was just as Hat Kid remembered it: The same moss-covered trees, the same muck and mire, and the same salty, stale smell. She wondered if the spirits noticed the ice already or if they even cared.

They chose to head in to the deepest parts of the wetland, where the trees were large and old, for the best chance of finding the spirits. Occasionally, the water level dramatically dipped in places, but they were random. This seemed like the best option. 

Bow Kid trailed after Hat’s steps carefully over sodden ground and thick, fallen trunks; watching the water for any sign of disturbance as they moved. The silent trek gradually wearing on her, she mused aloud, “There are a ton of weird creatures here, aren’t there… Do you think they’re all natural or that maybe some magic might’ve affected them?”

She knew what her friend was really getting at. Hat Kid’s own thoughts turned to the huge, shattered hourglass located on the other side of Subcon. Had _time_ magic affected them… “Hard to say,” she murmured, “The old reports about this planet said it was stable before any clocksmiths managed to come back here, and there aren’t many records of what it was like before that.” Not that she would’ve read them anyway: She’d barely skimmed through that data since her journey here had only ever meant to have been a pitstop in the first place. “There’s other magical beings out there though, so probably not.”

“I wouldn’t think everything living here back then would’ve survived a broken Time Piece that big untouched though.”

“The spirits might’ve come here after it shattered. Maybe all of that magic is what attracted them to Subcon.”

It made sense. Since miasma drew in darker spirits, why couldn’t regular magic lure others? Subcon Forest was already teeming with it, seemingly because of the massive Time Piece located in the heart of the ruins. That made the land an ideal environment for them, more malleable to their wills and the very aura of the place lending them strength. Of course, there were other areas of the planet with a high concentration of magic as well, just none near as strong as this forest.

“Yeah? Well, let’s hope it’s attracted more friends here than enemies,” Bow grunted as she hopped over a pair of logs, arms extended for balance. As they passed one of the dormant skeletons, she added, “I like the fire spirits alright, but I wouldn’t know how much trust to put in the rest of them so far.”

They kept going, keeping an even pace. In the past, Hat Kid had seen both minions and regular Dwellers stationed around the swamp. Some were at work minding the bells used to summon supernatural objects into focus. Some of them took the risk of simply being there just to cause of mischief. Some of them failed and were strung up as a warning to future trespassers. That day, there were none: They were all likely back at the village trying to help contain the spread.

However, the girls weren’t alone. Unbeknownst to them, the swamp spirits had found them first and tailed them beneath the water at a calm, quiet speed. 


	6. Act Two: Battle in the Bog, part ii

They’d entered a part of the swamp where the trees were so ancient that their thick, gnarled roots were almost as impressive and the eerie canopy above, curling over one another as they broke through the water’s surface and vanished into its mysterious depths. The two girls felt for certain that if they were going to find the swamp spirits anywhere, it would be there. Despite this, they’d also done everything possible to keep out of the water. It was just too dangerous: The instant they disturbed the still surface, they’d be attacked—and who knew if the swamp spirits would feel like listening when they tried to drag them into the abyss.

As the two girls called out across the swamp though, it didn’t seem like they would have much of a choice but to make that gamble. Everything remained eerily quiet until Hat Kid picked up a broken twig and threw it in the water. It landed with a soft _plunk_ before bobbing back up amid the newly formed ripples. 

Bow Kid squatted down on the large root they balanced on to peer below, but didn’t see anything either, “Do you think they’re all down in their own realm? Maybe they’re hiding from the cold.”

It was possible. As worried as the fire spirits had been over the second-coming of Vanessa’s storm, it made sense that others would try to flee from it at the first sign of snow. It made her wonder how deep their realm actually went—if it was more of an expanded, distorted version of this part of forest or its own pocket of space altogether more similar to the Horizon. If it was the latter, maybe they wouldn’t care at all about trying to save Subcon since they could just warp out of harm’s way easily.

It didn’t stop her from wanting to try to get their help. Hat mentally braced herself and sat down on the root, making sure her Projectile Badge was securely fastened to the brim of her cap. Umbrella tightly in her grasp, she held out her free hand to Bow, “Looks like there’s only one way to find out. I’ll need you to hang onto me. If they try to drag me away, you need to pull me back.”

No further explanation was needed. Spirit realm or not, neither of them could breathe underwater. Bow seemed reluctant, but with no other plan, she grasped her friend’s hand tightly and brandished her own weapon readily at her side. 

Hat took a long breath. She shouted in warning before sliding off the root, “I’m coming in, spirits!”

The cold water jolted her system, and although it wasn’t bad enough to affect her muscles, she still shivered. _So much for all that work getting over that cold…_ She’d be lucky if she didn’t relapse. That thought was barely in the back on the young alien’s mind though as she kept her eyes peeled on her surroundings, searching the water fervently for any sign of movement.

There was none—or at least, not at first. She’d expected the sludge to manifest itself into the stretched, writhing appendages that had encircled her and grappled for her before. Instead, something clamped around her waist _under_ the water and tried pulling her away from behind. She yelped in surprise, fighting to keep her head up while Bow planted her feet firmly against the wood to hang on to her.

Whatever had ahold of her felt like the tail of a snake or a long fish. It was slick, scaly, and heavily muscled. Hat Kid could feel the four lobes of its tail contorted around her like fingers, matching the hand-like shape of the sludge they typically summoned to attack. 

There was a gasp and a loud blast sounded through the forest. Bow Kid had raised her umbrella to ward off another grimy shape coming for her from behind next, propelling it back into the bog. A pair of webbed hands reached out around Hat Kid next, raking past her ponytail, as she felt the spirit coil around her further and she screamed, “ _Thane Fen! We’re just here to talk to the Thane of the Fen_!”

Everything seemed to stop all at once and the tight hold on her thankfully loosened. She breathed carefully through her nose, trying to steady her heartbeat in case the other being could feel how rapidly it pounded against her chest. She fought the urge to twist her umbrella around so it would already be aimed at the spirit in case things still took a turn for the worst: The movement likely wouldn’t go unnoticed and instead just enrage them.

She didn’t feel any more at ease when the spirit did draw away, vanishing into the depths with a rush of movement and the end of its tail briefly peeking above the surface right beside her before slipping back under. The girls wasted no time, scrambling to get Hat back out of the water and huddling close to each other in the middle of the large root where they waited the following minutes in silence.

Hat Kid continued to shiver, wanting nothing more than to return to Subcon village and join the foxes around any one of their warm fires. Even Kit’s overly spicy food seemed good to her at the moment—anything to spark some heat back into her core. She took advantage of the brief delay to wring the swamp water out of her cape and tunic, hoping that all of this would really be worth it. From that one experience alone though, the swamp spirits did appear to be as physically strong as they were ruthless.

It wasn’t until after they finally surfaced that the girl realized she’d never gotten a proper look at them beyond quick blurs of movement and their spells. Five of them appeared: Four male and one female, all with a humanesque form. The way the water rippled in odd places; however, it wouldn’t have surprised the two aliens to learn that there were more lying in wait. Each swamp spirit shared a mottled look to their skin and scales, fin-like ‘ears,’ a set of horns, and extremely long hair. Their mostly violet colorations, meanwhile, slightly differed and each bore unique patterns across their face and collarbone. 

It was easy to tell which one was Thane Fen simply by the air of authority he carried around himself. He looked to be the strongest of the group and had small finlets that ran across his shoulders like epaulettes, as well as a smaller pair of points that branched off the tall, jagged horns protruding from his head. He kept his hair pulled back in a slick, low ponytail that billowed in the water like some kind of shadowy, undersea plant. While his skin was clear compared to the others, the dark, twin markings around his eyes reminded the girls of a skull’s blank sockets—only made all the more jarring by his steely gaze.

Hat and Bow braved themselves against his observing stare. Although showing any hint of aggression was probably the wrong idea, neither of them felt that they could afford to look weak either. As it was, the Thane still raised an unimpressed, quizzical brow at them. His voice was deep and jeering, directed at one of the other swamp spirits even as he continued to eye them, “You dragged me up to this foul place just for a pair of Dweller children?”

“We’re not actually Dwellers,” Bow corrected him, the grip on her weapon no less firm even as she looked at the spirits with barely hidden fascination, “We’re just here to talk to you for them.”

“Wherever you’re from, you’re all the same kind of sad, surface dweller to me.” Despite the threatening, on-edge demeaner his kind exuded, he almost seemed bored—as if he wanted the pair to present some actual danger. He swam to the side to lean against another root close to their one with a huff, propping himself against it. “Present yourselves,” as the girls shared a confused look, he rephrased, “ _Explain_ yourselves. Where do a pair of small fries find the gall to intrude on our swamp and call _my_ name?” 

Hat Kid was proud of herself for managing to keep back a snippy remark. The Thane was so sure of himself that he reminded of her more of Snatcher by the second. It was no wonder they couldn’t see eye-to-eye! It meant that she and Bow had to be good representatives in his place. She dipped her head at the commanding spirit politely, “Snatcher send us. We’re here because we need your help. Vanessa’s attacking the forest again. We’re trying to gather as many spirits to fight back against her as we can.”

“I’ve noticed…” Fingers laced together, his chin propped against them, Thane Fen glanced at the nearby slush with a harsh look before his gaze returned to them. He chuffed mockingly, continuing, “Subcon’s grim Shadow sent a pair of little girls my way for that? He must be losing his edge.”

Two of the other spirits chuckled darkly at his words. This was getting nowhere fast.

He waved his hand at them dismissively, “You should know we have no love for you Dwellers. I don’t care if the entire surface is sent into a new ice age thanks to that witch: Run along and tell the Shadow he has no allies here.”

Hat Kid insisted, “But Vanessa’s only stronger now! Wasn’t the storm bad the first time? If the ice spreads, it’ll only be worse!”

“We can take ourselves.”

Bow quickly added, “Even if you can, this part of the swamp probably won’t make it. Are you really ok losing a part of your home?”

“And what exactly does the Shadow plan to do to stop it anyway?” he countered, eyes narrowing, “No spirit was able to prevent that wave before. I sincerely doubt any one could put a halt to it now.”

“They’re already working hard at it! We’ve got the fire spirits casting their barriers all over the forest, and Snatcher and his minions are using their own magic to melt the ice.”

Mentioning the fire spirits might’ve been the wrong move. At the sound of their name, the Thane sneered in disgust. Hat Kid could only guess that he didn’t like them anymore than the snow women she’d met in the Horizon did, as natural enemies thanks to their opposing elements: Water vs. Fire. He seemed more than content to end the conversation there, raising up, “We don’t work with those foxes.”

“Well, you might not have a choice.”

The bold claim slipped out of Hat Kid’s lips before she could stop them. She couldn’t help it: Even knowing it in advance, it was hard to believe how incredibly stubborn the swamp spirits were being! Bow gave her a worried glanced. Hat noticed more than few shocked, stern expressions aimed her way.

The worst one was from Thane Fen himself. He directed all of that sneering disgust to her, the boredom in his tone replaced by something much more severe. He stared long and hard at her once again.

“I think I just realized who you are,” he said, “You’re that audacious, little urchin that snuck around my guards not too long ago, that flushed out the main pipes of the well, aren’t you?”

Hat didn’t immediately answer, shuffling on her feet and biting the inside of her cheek. The swamp spirits didn’t seem to think much about their intrusion this time, given their reason, but her previous contracts with Snatcher probably wouldn’t be a good enough excuse. The gazes leveled at them seemed harsher and she tried to think of the best way to charge out of their situation if needed. Which way was the closest back to solid ground?

To her astonishment—and trepidation—a small, smug grin drew itself onto the Thane’s face. He paused, considering something to himself mutely, then offered, “My men don’t work with anyone weaker than them either. Tell you what? You want our help so badly? Prove yourself. Fight one of my warriors—I’ll eve let you and your friend here work together. If you win, we’ll help you fend off the witch.”

He said nothing about what would happen if they lost. Then again, he didn’t really need to: The only wagers a spirit like him seemed to deal with were the ones that involved life and death. If it was two against one though, even if they were pretty strong…

Bow Kid gave Hat a reassuring nod. If they had to fight, they’d fight together. They agreed to Thane Fen’s terms.

He sent one of his men to collect someone else, which caught the girls off-guard. They would’ve thought any one of his strongest guards would’ve already surfaced with him. Whey they returned, it was with a female swamp spirit with waves of long, crimped, springy hair. Her skin was shades of light lavender with small, dark mottled spots that coated over her body and across her nose like freckles. Unlike the others though, she had no horns and the end of her tail was shape more like an eel’s rather than a fish’s. Most noticeably though was the faint, ethereal glow that traced her body as she surfaced—and how startlingly familiar she seemed to Hat Kid even though she was certain they’d never met before.

Although the woman stared at Thane Fen with a deep frown, he gently brushed a wild lock of hair away from her face, “Ah, my lovely water lily… Are you feeling up to a bit of sport?”


	7. Act Two: Battle in the Bog, part iii

Another thing that seemed to differ between this new swamp spirit and the rest of her kind was that she didn’t exactly seem to share their combative nature. She wore a similar, stern face, but it wasn’t directed at the two aliens: Instead, she surprisingly focused all of that indignation at Thane Fen himself. She eyed the girls for a brief moment in silence. 

“You want me to fight a couple of kids?” From her sour tone, what she really seemed to question was how the ruler could bother her with such a menial thing so far beneath them both.

If the thane noticed her contempt, however, he didn’t react to it. It was as if he was used to it, the last bit of boredom hanging over him finally elevating as he tapped her shoulder in a pointed way and then dragged himself into a lounged position between some of the wide roots. “That one,” he gestured to Hat Kid, “has managed to wriggle away from my guard time and again. I’d like to see their skill against yours. Come, dear, give us some showmanship.”

 _Showmanship…_ Yeah, right. As the rest of the spirits divided along the imagined ‘sidelines’ of the area, Hat Kid was reminded yet again that their lives really were just sport to these supernatural beings. She and Bow would be fighting for Subcon and their own safety: They were treating it like a game. It would’ve annoyed her if several concerns weren’t at the forefront of her mind instead.

She didn’t know what to expect going to this. Clearly, the woman wasn’t a normal swamp spirit, meaning it was possible that she had different abilities. ‘Lily’—as she decided to call her after Thane Fen’s own nickname for her—actually reminded her a lot of Kit: Similar enough in form to the spirits she lived with and adopting some of their power, but with her own twist thanks to her human origins. Did she used to be human too then, maybe even a Dweller? It was possible. 

The longer Hat Kid thought about it, the more the truth dawned on her. A flash of recognition ignited in her eyes as the woman turned to continue arguing with the thane, revealing the flower pinned in her matted locks. Her once vibrant, red hair had dulled; her friendly smile was gone; and both her life and humanity were lost. Nevertheless, it was still her, the Florist from Vanessa’s storybook.

An immediate sense of empathy fell over the girl and she bit her lip. Hat had no idea what happened—she always assumed that the Florist was killed during the ice storm like the other Dwellers—but it didn’t take a stretch of imagination for her to somehow just know the queen had something to do with it. Had she been here all this time since Subcon Forest initially fell? 

Lily caught her staring, noticing something in her gaze that she returned with a puzzled look of her own. Of course, she didn’t know Hat Kid at all: Hat had only seen her in a memory. The child tried to control her expression and looked away. Even if she did try to explain herself, she wouldn’t know where to begin and knew that there was nothing she could do for her now. Bow also looked at Hat in questioning silence, but she only replied with a face that said, _I’ll tell you later._

Lily and the thane’s mild bickering only lasted a moment longer, the former inevitably giving in. By the end, it didn’t seem like she could really argue against him as his subordinate, but that they nevertheless still bickered if only for the sake of it—another odd kind of entertainment for them. So, resigning herself to the fight, Lily backed off to give them some room to move and warned the two girls in a low murmur, “It’d be disrespectful if you kids hold anything back. Know that I won’t.”

Bow readied her weapon, whispering to the other child, “You can’t make friends on this planet very easily, can you?”

Hat quipped back, “Believe it or not, that’s the nicest threat anyone here has given me yet.”

Hat and Bow made sure to steady themselves along their root. They’d be at a severe disadvantage in the water, so they’d probably have to jump along the dense foliage to move around. Hat didn’t think—or at least hoped—that the other spirits would keep to themselves and not try to trip them up during the battle. 

Comfortably reclined within his tangle of plants, Thane Fen raised his hand with a grim smile, like an emperor signaling his gladiators before a match. The ruthless spark in his eyes didn’t appear to register the mild snowfall that tried to stick around them, even as it reminded the young aliens that they had little time to waste. “Let’s start on my mark. Are all opponents ready…?

“ _Begin!_ ”

When she said she wouldn’t hold back, the fallen Florist hadn’t been kidding. Right off the bat, with an upward wave of her hands, the swamp came to life. Rather than control the muck and mire, however, her power was instead focused on the flora that surrounded them—fitting her role in her old life, but only making the girls’ situation twice as difficult. The pair felt their root quiver beneath them, jumping away just in time as it lifted itself above the water with an aged groan and then came crashing back down. Slush sprayed over them as they landed on an adjacent log, the dead, lichen covered timber beyond the woman’s influence.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t safe to stand on for long either. The same root rose to lash out at them again, striking the log with enough force to break it in half while Hat and Bow again narrowly dodged the attack. They landed on a tree next, looping around opposite sides of its trunk and hugging it tightly for purchase. The girls grimaced, watching the plant-life rear out of the water to coil and curl like massive serpents along its surface. Looking up, even the branches high above them seemed to bend to her will, jarring in place while the long tresses of moss swayed with them. 

Hat Kid glared at Thane Fen, who continued to watch with a silent, smug grin as the other swamp spirits cheered around him. _This_ was why he picked the Florist to fight them, to restrict their movements almost completely and keep them on defense! Before a long, thin stem could hit her from behind, she quickly flipped around to take cover with Bow on the other side of the three, momentarily faltering until she could pin her spine against the rough bark.

“We have to keep moving!” her friend shouted. She knew that, she just didn’t know which way to go! 

They only had one break amid all of the chaos. Not every plant was as elastic as others. Twigs and branches snapped out of place with a sickening crack as they were disturbed, and fell into the swamp below before bobbing back up. Tapping Bow’s arm as a sign to follow, Hat propelled herself off of their tree and used the new debris like a series of platforms to leap across the swamp—ignoring a third, loud crash and wave of spray that amassed directly behind her.

Hat only had a chance to look back once she’d reached another thick tangle of roots almost completely on the other side of the area. Bow wasn’t with her, forced to retreat in another direction. The other child had managed to snag a low-hanging branch and was trying to climb up no matter how much the tree tried to shake her off.

This, however, split Lily’s attention between them. Hat Kid turned to strike while she could, racing back and lunging into the air with her umbrella raised. She didn’t notice that something was bubbling beneath the surface of the swamp until it was too late. A vicious green and violet blur shot up from the water, batting the girl away mid-flight. Cold enveloped her body once more as fell with a splash, and she hurriedly kicked her way to safety—riding another root that tried attacking her next out of the water before landing on a much safer one. 

Some kind of large, glowing flower had hit her. It was shaped almost like a closed, drooping tulip, but its petals subtly opened and shut like the jaws of a carnivorous plant. No doubt, it was a supernatural amalgamation infused with the Florist’s magic. Luckily though, it looked stationary, bound to wherever it was rooted in the swamp’s depths. It stretched toward her, but could only go so far, like a dog kept back on a leash.

It was still in the way. Dodging another attack to land on a wide lilypad, Hat felt at her projectile badge, aimed the tip of her umbrella, and fired a quick bolt at the flower. Its petals erupted on contact as it was hit at the receptacle, and then decayed before her eyes in an instant; its light died as it gnarled around itself and practically melted into a wad of compost, plopping back into the marsh.

The bolt nearly struck the Florist as well, zooming past her by around half a meter before it too dissolved in the distance. The near miss brought her focus back to Hat Kid, and she raised a hand to send another one of the large root charging at her like a battering ram. Beneath the alien, the lilypad was starting to sink. She jumped, but not fast enough. The root caught her by the leg and knocked her sideways. She landed on a stump and scrambled to keep herself from rolling off with her free hand.

Meanwhile, Bow Kid secured herself in a nook on her tree to keep from falling, pointing her umbrella the woman to fire a beam of her own. It struck her in the back and she cringed as she was pushed forward by the blast. Nevertheless, she didn’t let up. 

A new flower—this one even bigger than the first—bloomed by Hat Kid not a second later. No sooner had its petals formed, they unhinged to bite her. The girl veered out of its way, severing its stem as it chomped on a chunk of bark in her place. A third cropped up and swung itself at her waist, knocking her back, but she recovered and braced herself against a nearby trunk. 

There were more. A few meters away, one sprung up and snatched a bug from the air. Its petals took a different color as it turned to Bow Kid and returned fire—spitting out the insect with a sniper’s aim. It struck her in the shoulder and she rolled back with a wince, nearly falling out of the tree. Still, her face took on an expression more of disgust than pain. 

They couldn’t waste all of their focus on the plants or they’d just exhaust themselves! They had to attack the Florist herself if they were going to get anywhere… Hat Kid closed the gap between them as more debris fell from above and rammed into her unguarded stomach, then twisted herself in midair to follow up with a second strike from the side. She ended up not having enough force to propel all the way to safety, landing back in the water; however, Bow Kid covered her as she swam away with another burst of firepower.

Some of the swamp spirits laughed at her desperate strokes. No doubt to them, she looked as clumsy as a newborn in the water. It probably made it all the more hysterical when one of the large roots finally did crash on top of her, submerging her completely in an eruption of bubbles and wooden splitters. The swamp felt impossibly deep, more like being dragging into a black hole. For a moment, Hat Kid thought she might be thrust right into the spirits’ realm until the root once more began to lift above her. She clung to it, holding her breath and feeling a suctioning pull created by the two, newly-made, opposing currents. 

She remerged to catch the tail-end of Bow’s worried cry, “…you ok?!”

All she could give her friend in answer was a quick thumb’s up: The air had been thrust from her lungs and it took enough energy to hang on. Hat let her body drop before the root could a second time, landing on another lilypad. She had a few seconds to recover before it began sinking like the first.

A new flower tried to fire at Bow. Hat shot an attack of her own at it while the other girl did the same to Lily. Hat couldn’t remember the last time she’d used her Projectile Badge so much, but the longer range of the attack really was useful in the moment. A part of her wondered if the multitude of blasts could be heard all across Subcon.

Eventually, Bow Kid was ripped from her perch by a tangle of moss that knotted around her ankle and flung her into the water. Hat raced over to pull her back out, the two meeting on a sloping log. The roots surrounding them began to coil upwards as Lily tried to take them both out with one strike. Still bracing Bow, Hat swung her umbrella around in her other grip to fire and make the woman lose concentration.

Those spare seconds were just what they needed to compose themselves one more time. Together, the aliens charged their attacks to full power to send one final, unified beam at her. The massive blast couldn’t miss: Even as the Florist quickly tried to dive into the water to avoid it, it caught her in the chest and launched her back—sending her flying across the swamp’s surface in a trail of froth and mist. 

She wasn’t knocked unconscious, but that last strike did knock the fight out of her. The flowers she’d summoned wilted, and the roots barely trembled when she tried to make them rise. Good: Honestly, the girls were out of breath themselves.

The swamp spirits weren’t laughing anymore. Worried, Hat and Bow kept themselves back-to-back, eying their audience. A couple of them checked on Lily, rapping her shoulders in a taunting way. Some still looked amused. Others looked bewildered, turning to one another, then to Thane Fen to await his order.

The thane stared at the girls for a while, still reclined, tapping his chin in a thoughtful way. He didn’t exactly seem pleased, but he didn’t look angry either, just… intrigued. After a moment’s silence, he clapped his hands once together and shook his head before spreading them in an all-encompassing motion, “Well, you both surprised me, but I suppose I can’t make a liar out of myself now!”

He lifted himself up out of the water. The two girls watched in fascination as his muscled tail split into a pair of long legs with webbed feet, muck and moss gathering at his hips like a kind of thick, netted fabric. The newly-formed limbs looked powerful, but almost disjointed—too flexible to be natural because of their original state. Still, after a few second’s practice, he walked on them just fine even if with a heavy step. He looked better in the water. Beyond the odd legs, his skin somehow seemed dirtier than before. It was like he was secreting a thin layer of slime from his pours to prevent himself from drying out. 

Holding his hand out above the water for a brief moment, a spike—no, a spear—flew out of the swamp and into his waiting grasp. After that, Thane Fen looked back at them. The high he felt from seeing them was quickly starting to wear off, but although he sighed, he continued to grin.

“I promised you an army, so fine, you’ll have one. We’ll call a truce with the Shadow to fight back the ice witch— _for now,_ ” he turned to the rest of his kind next, his voice rising to a loud boom as he gestured at them with a general’s commanding air, “Did you all hear me?! _We’re joining this fight! So let’s send that hag crawling back to her pit!”_

Their reaction was instantaneous. Every swamp spirits’ voice rose to meet their leader’s in a massive uproar that could’ve shaken the trees. Hat and Bow just stared. Not that they weren’t happy to finally win them over: It was just jarring to see someone who rebuffed their every passive request to look so eager to rally to their side now. Both children, however, decided not to question it.

A few of the spirits retreated back into the depths to rally more of their kind or gather weapons. The rest got out of the water to get used to their own legs—except for the Florist, who emerged in a more ghostlike form. She didn’t seem happy to join, but the thane ordered her to stay by his side.

He looked around their immediate surroundings and tsked to himself, as if only just thinking of it, “Oh, what a mess… You three even managed to dreg up some Dweller garbage. Remind me to send someone to clean this later.”

Hat and Bow looked around. While the swamp didn’t seem any more grimy than usual, there was a ton of debris now floating across its surface. The moved roots also seemed to have unburied various pieces of trash from beneath the trees, from rusted equipment to shreds of aluminum and plastic. Finding something, Bow hopped along the roots and dragged a familiar, hourglass shape out of the mess, asking without missing a beat, “If it’s all just trash, can we keep this?”

Whether or not Thane Fen recognized the power flowing from the relic, he sneered at it and gave her a dismissive wave, “Take it. We don’t want anything from you surface dwellers in our waters.”


	8. Interlude

They came back to the Snatcher’s tree—army in tow—only to be greeted by the minions with a mix of shock and terror. Most of them hadn’t been alerted to the girls’ impromptu trip to the swamp, causing an initial panic at the sight of the spirits. Those few that had been aware of their mission couldn’t seem to believe that they’d actually managed to complete it! Either way, several of the ragdoll-like beings stopped what they were doing and took cover as the troop passed by. A few ran off to get their boss.

The small number of fire spirits that were close showed little more than warry disgust. Kit, however, shrank back at the newcomers’ approach: Eyes wide, she stood up from her circle of embers and beelined toward one of the large, glowing mushrooms that circled the giant tree to take cover behind. She clutched her tail around herself nervously as she peered back around. A handful of swamp spirits seemed just as curious about her, but most just rolled their eyes in disdain at her timid reaction.

They weren’t impressed, Thane Fen least of all. Still, they held themselves back from saying anything until Snatcher glided out of his home with a raised brow—half disbelieving, but still just as snide as ever. Although he waved his minions off, he had no problem coming forward, towering over everyone as he usually did when patrolling the forest. He wore a hardened expression that was difficult to read.

“Well, well! If it isn’t the devil of the swamp himself,” the phantom began, sizing the thane up with a scrutinizing look, “And here I figured you and the rest of your kind would stay hidden for this whole mess.”

Thane Fen wore an ugly grin, challenging him with a curt reply of his own, “Of course I came! When my people fight, I fight—unlike certain others who’d have children do their dirty work. What is it, Shadow? Run out of those mafia oafs to torment?”

“I’ve to get my kicks somehow. Your little fish stopped coming up here for me to fry a long time ago… Until now, anyway.”

Hat and Bow shared a nervous glance. They hoped the two wouldn’t clash so much that they’d throw away everything they went through just to get the swamp spirits here. Both supernatural beings continued to stare each other down, but thankfully neither raised a hand against the other. They really did seem too similar for their own good…

“Until now…” the thane echoed in agreement, giving him a small nod, “But, for the moment, we’re all ‘friends’ here, yes? I hate it, but I gave my word and those children said that you lot need our help.”

“Unfortunately, until we push Vanessa back, that seems to be the case…” Snatcher briefly eyeballed the two girls—a quick glance that questioned whatever they had said to the thane—and then looked over the swamp spirits’ numbers. There were plenty to divide across the forest, and now they had the elemental advantage they needed to deal with the possessed statues. 

It was only for a second, but Hat Kid caught how his harsh expression faltered. Like the young alien before, he recognized the Florist even in her current state. Of course he did: Whatever kind of person the Prince was, he seemed to have cared deeply for all of Subcon and she was involved—however unwittingly—with his and the queen’s fallout. He was clearly shocked to see her, so it was likely that he was just as clueless to whatever happened to her as Hat was. However, he didn’t say anything and none of the swamp spirits seemed to notice the momentary change that had passed over him.

Instead, he continued, “Until Vanessa shows herself or makes any major moves, you and your people need to cover the fire spirits while they maintain their barriers.”

Thane Fen made another nasty face, but didn’t argue, “What does she seem to be after anyhow? It has been a while since the queen left her manor.”

With a snap of his fingers and a puff of smoke, Snatcher manifested an aged map of the woods. It levitated before the group and he used his magic to make vibrant, temporary markings along its surface. “At first, it seemed like her ice was expanding across Subcon as a whole. However, she’s concentrated her magic along a direct path past the ruins toward the deeper parts of the forest.”

“Toward the spiders’ nest?” he snorted, “I wouldn’t complain if she froze them out, but I can’t imagine what she’d want there.”

A sickening feeling hit Hat Kid in the gut. Deep within the spider’s territory, there was a waypoint that connected to the Horizon, a spiritual realm set in its own plane of existence where Moonjumper—a being split from the Prince--ruled. Maybe it was a stretch to think she was after him, but it didn’t seem like a coincidence… How would she even know to look for him there though, after all this time? As far as the child knew, out of the people in Subcon, only Snatcher, Bow, and herself were even aware he existed.

If the phantom shared her suspicions, he didn’t bring them up either, “Beats me. It doesn’t matter. She’s still going to destroy everything in her path if we let her.” 

He turned to wave Kit over from her hiding place, much to her surprise. Her ears fidgeted to attention and she glanced around, confused—as if she expected one of his minions to have suddenly appeared at her side and come forward at his call in her place. She pointed to herself.

“You may not be one of the fire spirit elders, but you’ll have to do. Besides, you’re the only one of those mutts who can fully speak English, dimwit: We need you to get through the them. Tell them to play nice with the swamp spirits.” 

Kit pouted at the insult, bundling the front of her skirt in two tight fists while nervousness turned to indignation. Her face flushed, “I’m not one of your little servants! You can tell them yourself, you nasty Shadow!”

“So, those foxes have their own dweller pet…” the thane observed. Kit’s bravado faded as quickly as it came. Visibly stiffening under his curious stare, she tried to hold herself high only for the continued, anxious wringing of her tail to give her away. Thane Fen smirked evilly, “You _poor_ creature, trapped with those beasts. If it weren’t for your mark, I’d invite you to visit our realm, but then again, well… your flame might not last long there.”

Some of the other swamp spirits snickered at his words.

“What say you, dear? Fancy a _swim?_ ”

The only one who didn’t enjoy the near threatening jeers was the Florist. Instead, Lily looked at the other woman with pity. Whether because of the uncalled-for bullying or because of their shared experience, she moved forward to interrupt, her expression otherwise unreadable, “Maybe we should keep on topic, Thane? I can go with her. Since I’m not exactly a spirit, they might take to me easier.”

He sighed at the end of his fun. Still, he couldn’t argue with that logic, “A compromise then! Return here when you’ve made your rounds. The Shadow and I will be discussing our tactics for a while.”

Snatcher glowered at the other’s momentary siege of command, but didn’t contradict it. Hat Kid sneezed, a chill running up her back. She wanted to talk to the Florist, but with all of the adults busy and the two young aliens temporarily forgotten in their rush, it looked like it would have to wait. Besides, the short nap she and Bow had taken earlier couldn’t compensate for the exhaustion she felt now. She needed food and some real sleep, back in her ship and out of the cold.

Now was just as good a time as any to excuse themselves for the time being. The pair waved some of the minions goodbye before leaving, promising to return later. The ice was still struggling against the fire spirits’ barriers. The snowfall that covered the forest was steadily only getting worse. As they marched through the woods to find a clear place for them to beam back up to the ship, they made sure to keep an eye on their surroundings and kept their voices low. 

“I think maybe we need to warn Moonjumper,” Hat Kid muttered, “Just in case things don’t go as planned and Vanessa manages to get to the Horizon.” Due to his memory loss, he probably wouldn’t recognize the queen, but she _absolutely_ would recognize him. That… couldn’t be good for either of them, and the Dwellers of the Horizon would only be caught in the middle.

Bow didn’t even question why her friend would even _want_ to warn him. She’d stopped questioning that sort of thing after their first adventure on the Artic Cruise, meeting so many of the latter’s former enemies. A lot of them were people who did bad things, but weren’t necessarily bad people—not to mention Hat always had a compassionate streak that rivaled most anyone’s patience. Although she’d been informed about how dangerous Moonjumper could be, she imagined he was another one of those cases. She just had to make sure to keep her friend alive.

Bow shrugged, “It couldn’t hurt. Maybe we could even ask those snow women you talked about for help while we’re there. You said they were related to the queen’s powers, right? Maybe they know something that could help us stop her.”

Hat Kid nodded. She wasn’t really sure that the trio of ice elementals would help—as self-serving as they acted—but Bow had a good point. No one, not even Snatcher, seemed to understand Vanessa’s power or frame of mind as much as they claimed to. By abilities and nature, they were practically one in the same. 

The only thing Hat Kid was worried about was getting to the Horizon in the first place. Sure, because of the mark the fire spirits put on her, she could pass through the waypoint just fine. Hopefully, it would extend to Bow as well as long as they were together. Even if it was only in a memory, the young alien could still envision where exactly the waypoint was as well. However, they would have to get past the spiders’ territory first, and then risk Moonjumper potentially attacking them on-sight.

 _We could bring Kit…_ she mused to herself. Chances are, they’d be outnumbered by the giant bugs on their own. Bringing some literal fire power with them to burn their way through the tangle of webs would help them clear the way to the Horizon as fast as possible. The waypoint should spit them out right across the ravine from the phantom ruler’s town. After that… Well, they’d just have to _try_ to get Moonjumper to listen first. 

Bow mumbled her own, quiet musings, “You know, from what you told me, it’s starting to look like everyone from Subcon is trapped in some way.”

Hat blinked at her, “What?”

“Well, you’ve got the obvious: Snatcher and the Dwellers are stuck as ghosts. It looks like Kit and that Water Lily are stuck with their spirits. Queen Vanessa kept herself trapped in her manor until now, and Moonjumper’s trapped himself and his subjects in his made-up home. It’s sad to think about, but it’s like after Vanessa locked her prince up, no one was really allowed to leave. You could even say that goes for Snatcher’s victims too, whenever he takes someone’s soul.”

She never really thought about it that way, just in the sense of hurt people hurting other people. It was true though, in part—even with cases like Kit and the other souls who had nothing to do with Subcon besides losing themselves in a dangerous place. Physically or mentally, the once beautiful forest was a prison none of them ever truly left and they just kept trying to lock up more people with them. Snatcher’s and Vanessa’s victims, Kit’s captives, Moonjumper’s subjects… No one seemed to know how to open their cell doors any other way.

What would it take for them to learn? She wished she knew. She wished she could help everyone, but she and Bow had their own problems and theirs were too complicated to solve easily. Maybe all of this was a good thing though then, if Vanessa’s actions now forced every denizen of Subcon to work together. Maybe they’d start helping each other and try to restore the forest to how it used to be. 

One could only hope. 


	9. Act Three: Mystic Gardens, part i

Cooking Cat had already left for the day, busy preparing for another episode of her show and delivering some pre-made dishes to the mafia’s restaurant. Once they’d looped back around the planet over to Subcon, Hat and Bow settled down for a late breakfast before starting their adventures for the day. However, they’d only gotten half-way through their meal when the ship’s alarm sounded off. 

Hat Kid hadn’t had this many visitors since the first two weeks when shed initially arrived on Earth. This time though, as the girls made their way to the main deck, they found an all-too familiar figure waiting for them: The Badge Seller. No introductions were needed. Bow had met them on the arctic cruise, and the girls had splurged to catch her up on most of the badges Hat already had. Given how often they appeared, Hat felt that she shouldn’t have been surprised to see them now, but the vendor had never been on her ship before. 

The vendor looked around with interest at the vessel’s interior before settling their gaze on the pair standing on the upper level of the wide space. Beyond the impossible-to-read mask and glitchy form, they still carried themselves with a tense posture that was hard to miss. She’d never seen them look even remotely nervous before: Nothing _ever_ broke through the Badge Seller’s calm demeanor—not when Mafia Town was covered in lava, or the floral infection spread across the Alpine Skyline, or when the cruise ship sank. They always seemed to know how to brace themselves against any situation, so, seeing them like this, the young alien couldn’t help feeling nervous herself.

Thankfully, their voice maintained its usual, steady roll. “Hello, young ones,” they dipped their head in greeting, “Apologies for the intrusion, I was curious what brought you back to these woods. I thought you’d already finished your work here.”

“Not yet,” Hat Kid answered with a raised brow, leaning over the railing, “What about you, Badge Seller? Why are you here?”

“You could say that I’m looking for an old friend.”

Who or what that person was, they didn’t say. Instead, the Badge Seller used their staff to casually pivot around and gaze out the viewport at the grim scene below. Vanessa’s storm was getting worse. The white streaks that swirled through the miasmic haze were only getting thicker, spreading farther, as the entirety of Subcon fell victim to the ice and snow just as it had in the distant past. To think that, below that veil, Snatcher and everyone in Subcon was fighting to the very end to stop it…

“The ice queen is on a rampage. You shouldn’t be here right now. It’s too dangerous.”

Any more dangerous than anything else they’d been through without the vendor giving them any kind of warning? Sure, Vanessa was powerful, but that was hard to imagine… Hat and Bow shared a look, then climbed down the ladder after each other to join at the Badge Seller’s side. Hat Kid sniffled, unable to catch herself before wiping her nose with her sleeve. 

“And you’re sick.”

“We’re fine,” Bow excused for them both, “We just had a bit of a cold, but it’s mostly cleared now.”

“Besides, we can’t wait around. We’ve got Time Pieces to find and our friends are down there,” the other girl added.

“You’ll be of no use to anyone bedridden,” the Badge Seller countered, then sighed, “But… I suppose it really isn’t my place to stop you. I can only insist you be careful.”

Doubt rose in Hat Kid’s mind. Warnings weren’t like the vendor either, at least not beyond the occasional, passive advice they gave before she’d run _headfirst_ into danger. Were they really worried that much about Vanessa, or maybe they were just worried about the friend they talked about? Who though? Most everyone is Subcon Forest was a terror in their own right. They’d made it clear before to leave Kit alone, as much as they felt sorry for her. Snatcher appeared to tolerate the Badge Seller’s presence, but was ultimately friends with no one beyond his and Hat’s contract…

“Is your friend lost?” she asked, “We could keep an eye out for them while we look around.”

The vendor stared at her for a brief moment of silence, “Very, though it’s unlikely you’ll ever run across him. Not to mention I’ve searched the woods already.” They looked back at Subcon. “I’m more concerned for your safeties for the time being. Are you certain you have to return there?”

“Well, we’re planning on visiting the Horizon for a while, but yeah.”

Whatever they thought of that—after the child’s near escape from the realm last time—the Badge Seller kept their opinion to themselves, shaking their head, “Wherever you go, just make sure to stay clear of the ice queen. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. Should fate play against you, however, I could possibly make a badge to help shield you from her magic.”

The two girls’ eyes widened with intrigue. Beyond the storm, Hat Kid remembered seeing the devastation of Vanessa’s power firsthand, back in the manor. Sometime before she got there, a mafia goon had managed to sneak in: Unlike her, however, he didn’t make it back out. She could easily still picture herself peeping from the nursery doorway, watching in horror as the thug she’d hid beside only minutes prior was ripped from his own cover in the wardrobe and frozen into a statue of ice within seconds. All it would’ve taken was for the queen to have captured her in a similar, tight hold for the same thing to have happened to her. The idea of wandering through Subcon only to round a wide tree and meet the full of her wrath made Hat shudder.

Bow Kid tugged on the end of the Badge Seller’s tunic, “How much?”

They raised a hand passively, “Nothing, _if_ the both of you will help me gather materials. I need you to gather tufts of the fire spirits’ fur while I collect the rest. The hairs should contain minute traces of their power. Weaving them into the badges’ fibers will help dispel the strength of the ice queen’s touch. We can meet at our old spot near the large tree.”

It made sense, the way the foxes radiated warmth. They may have naturally hated anything cold and wet, but that same heat that birthed that revulsion also acted as a kind of defense. That would also give them a chance to refamiliarize themselves to the forest trails around the newly manifested barriers. “It’s a deal!”

* * *

The Badge Seller already left before the girls could finish their breakfast and headed to the planet’s surface, walking the same paths they had followed the day previously. This time though, they packed to stay a while. As the storm worsened, there were no promises that they’d be able to make another trip down—or even return to the ship at all—until it was gone, not at least without traveling to somewhere safer on-world to beam up from. For the most part, they’d camp out in Snatcher’s tree. Even if he minded—which he most likely did—he’d be too busy dealing with the all of the spirits to chase the girls off.

For the time being though, they braced themselves for their trip to the Horizon, quickly finding Kit and dragging her off with them to burn through the maze of spider webs. Lily also tagged along, volunteering herself as a guard for the two children and their not-so-aggressive companion. In all honesty, however, Hat Kid felt a part of it had something to do with how awkwardly silent she was in the midst of the Dwellers. If others recognized her, few approached, especially with how close she was to the swamp spirits both physically and as an adopted member of their kind. The Florist had become something of an outcast, separated from her old home by centuries without ever truly fitting in her new one.

It now seemed like Kit planned to keep her tail permanently wrapped around herself for comfort, anxiously hugging the bundle of frayed fur. Her ears remained pinned so far back that she looked like she’d been kicked, and the deeper their party traveled through the forest the more she fretfully stared at the growing mass of webs that soon began to surround them. “This is exactly the kind of reason why I stay in the Firelands,” she mumbled, “This forest is a nasty place! First that nasty Shadow, then those nasty statues, then the dark and the ice, and now these nasty spiders…”

Lily floated alongside her with a smirk, arms folded across her chest, “I take it you don’t get out much.”

“She really doesn’t,” Hat Kid answered for her, “ _At all._ ”

“Can you blame me?” Kit returned, jerking her head around at the sound of a twig breaking, “Look at this place! It’s not at all like when I first came to Subcon; it’s so bleak and there’s something lurking around every corner. I just want this whole mess over so that the fire spirits and I can go back home.”

The young alien inwardly winced. She knew it was all just another excuse the woman used to justify her captivity. She’d been hoping that spending time outside of the Firelands might break some of the fox woman’s unhealthy attachment to their domain. She needed to break away from it for her own sake. Clearly though, there was still a long road ahead.

Bow’s next words reminded her of something, however, that kept her hopes up, “You don’t seem to mind the minions anymore though. You looked like you were ready to adopt them.”

It was true. When they stopped at Snatcher’s place to collect the two women, they found Kit surrounded by a cluster of minions. Originally, they’d been just as wary around her as she was of them. Nevertheless, within the past two days she’d managed to win a good number of them over with her motherly personality. She’d resewed some of their poorer stitching, patched up parts of their worn bodies, and gave them new patches from whatever was available. All the while, Snatcher had been glaring daggers at her back, but she had appeared too content to notice. It was a rare moment of peace between the rest of her flighty reactions.

Now though, she pouted a little as a faint blush ignited across her cheeks. Kit hugged her tail even more tightly to her chest. “I guess they’re not as bad as I thought,” she muttered in an even quieter voice than before, “Even for gremlins…”

“Maybe you’ll learn to get along with Snatcher too.”

“ _Never! I’ll never like that nasty Shadow in a million years!”_

The Florist chuckled at her response, but the laughter didn’t quite reach her darkened eyes. When she looked around at the forest, instead of fear, her gaze was shadowed with pain and longing for a time long since passed. “You’ve got a point though. Subcon really isn’t what it used to be…”

Unlike the spirits that they each lived with, the two women got along well. Beyond their similar fates, a mutual disdain for Snatcher also sparked an immediate kindship between them. The phantom’s poor relations to the swamp and fire spirits made them their enemy as well, and while Kit largely just believed whatever the foxes told her, Lily saw her own people forced to bow to a perceived monster.

Thus far, she hadn’t gone out of her way to be rude or cruel to him, but she didn’t hide her anger either. She always gave him a wicked look whenever he was around before forcing herself to some task or another—even while he actively worked to avoid or ignore her. Likely, the only things holding her back were the current alliance and the thane’s leash. 

The webs were becoming overwhelmingly thick now. They canopied the trees almost as heavily as the leaves themselves, and carpeted the ground in various odd places where it looked like some wild animal had fallen pretty to the spiders and been cocooned. Disgusted, Kit summoned a small flame to torch the first wall of silvery threads that blocked their path.

Hat Kid tried to rise to her contractual BFF’s defense, “Snatcher’s not that bad once you get used to him, really. He’s doing everything he can to take care of the forest.”

Both women looked at her dubiously. “He’s _possessive_ of Subcon, kid,” the Florist explained, “Trust me, it’s not like he’s watching it out of the kindness of his black heart: It’s all about control.”

Kit nodded rapidly in agreement, “Not to mention he’s a soul stealer! I wish you little ones would just stay away from him…”

She felt like reminding the pair that the former tried to kill her and Bow on Thane Fen’s command and the latter tried to keep her trapped in the Firelands, but instead argued, “Look at the minions and Dwellers though. A lot of them are weak ghosts: He’s got nothing to gain from looking after them, but he still does it.”

“It doesn’t stop him from experimenting on them,” Lily again countered, “or locking up the ones that don’t obey.” She clicked her tongue in thought. “If there’s any ‘good’ in him at all, it’s only because he’s somehow still the lesser of all of the evils lurking around here now. Mark my words, if you both want to keep yourselves safe, you shouldn’t trust that devil.”

Hat wished she could convince them of otherwise, but then Snatcher didn’t give her the best case to work with. He didn’t go so far as to eat souls as the rumors went, but he did force people into contracts to take them. He kept them imprisoned in his makeshift lab or put them to work. He antagonized the spirits, whether or not they meant any harm. He even went so far as to use the Dwellers for cherry bombs—although the girl knew from their willingness to help her that the experience only ended in making them dizzy for a while after and, at worst, they were just upset about getting sucked into one without their consent. Most of what she could say in the phantom’s favor was based on her personal knowledge or theories, and she couldn’t argue that without bias. It was still difficult enough trying to convince Bow that Snatcher wasn’t that bad.

Thankfully, it didn’t stop Bow from supporting her friend where she could, “At least he’s better than Vanessa though, right? It’s a good thing there’s someone strong enough to help fight her off.”

The Florist scoffed, “Better than the entire line of nobles, I’ll give him that much… They were never much good for anything.”

Hat Kid gave her a worried glance, “What do you mean?”

Lily didn’t seem entirely willing to take about it. It had to be a sore spot for her, considering how she must’ve died. She only explained her feelings vaguely, stretching her arms behind her head, “One leader wiped us out, the other abandoned us completely. You tell me what I’m supposed to think about that kind of betrayal. By the time all of this is over, I just hope the queen finally gets what she deserves, and the same goes for the prince if he isn’t dead and gone already.”

She bit her lip. It was bad enough that she didn’t like Snatcher. If she knew he actually was the missing prince, who knew what she’d do. As they drew closer to the Horizon’s waypoint, another worried thought occurred to her, _Moonjumper!_ The same as Vanessa, the Florist would definitely recognize him even if he didn’t remember her! It was already going to be difficult if and when they ran into him. No matter how she reacted to seeing the phantom, it couldn’t end well: Whether she fought him, demanded answers from him, or tried to drag him back to Subcon, he’d lash out!

It took Bow Kid a little longer to piece those facts together, having only heard of Moonjumper through Hat’s stories. Soon enough though, panic overtook her own expression at the dawning realization. 

The group reached the open in the rock wall that made that made Subcon’s waypoint. Kit tilted her head, drawing her flame closer and eying the mess of webbing inside with a grimace, “Is this it?” 

“Yep!” Unable to whisper a plan with the two standing there, Hat instead thought up an excuse quick, pointing to the Florist, “Maybe you should keep watch, in case any of the spiders or Vanessa come this way. We’ll need somebody to defend the way out.”

Lily raised a confused brow at the sudden change, “Why me?”

Bow jumped in, nodding to Kit in a low voice, “Do you really think she can stay behind?”

Already busy clearing as much of the webs away as she could, Kit didn’t even hear the comment. Nothing could wipe the disgust from her face, and she occasionally glanced around as if worried that something might spring at them from the treetops at any moment. Right as she was to be concerned and as much control as she had over her powers, she looked jumpy enough to _torch_ anything that might mildly surprise her.

“Point taken…”

When the path was clear, it took a second longer to convince Kit to actually follow them to the Horizon. Inevitably though, her known fear of the spiders outweighed the unknown of the place that much farther away from the Firelands. Hat and Bow held hands as they stepped in to make sure they didn’t lose each other while crossing over. It was snug, but Kit took the lead with her flame hovering in front of them to guide their way through the dark, seemingly endless tunnel. 


	10. Act Three: Mystic Gardens, part ii

Two of the celestial spirits, Pictor and Horologium, were acting strange…

True, Moonjumper never had had the pleasure of speaking to any of their kind and, for the most part, they did what they wanted; however, he’d been in the Horizon for so long that he knew some of their behaviors. Suddenly appearing in the Horizon’s all-consuming sky only to race away over another part of his domain was definitely out of the ordinary. 

The phantom prince glided along his palace’s outer walls, looking out over the now thriving landscape of his home. Everything looked okay from afar. Still, maybe he needed to focus his sight on the ground, cast his all-seeing spell among the trees or even to the mostly vacant streets below. 

One of the red Dwellers returning from guard duty at the Alpine Skyline waypoint drifted overhead and he waved them over, “Have you spotted anything unusual?”

A light tenor answered him as the ghost shook his head, “No, Your Highness. My shift went off without a hitch. Should we be on the lookout for anything in particular? I could take a message to the next guard if you’d like.”

Moonjumper considered it. He didn’t want to worry his subjects over nothing though and shook his head, briefly bidding the other specter on their way. No, first, he would see to whatever might be happening on his own. Moving to the greater seclusion of one of the towers, he braced himself and concentrated. Little by little, his eyes searched throughout his territory.

* * *

The Horizon wasn’t at all like Hat Kid remembered. According to what she witnessed in a trapped Dweller’s storybook, the waypoint should’ve spit them out somewhere across the ravine from Moonjumper’s kingdom—in the middle of a flat, dry, and dusty landscape. Instead, the trio found themselves surrounded by a forest of blues teeming with iridescent, ethereal ‘life.’ It could’ve been an extension of the woods just past the town; however, most of the trees were too young and there was far more undergrowth to wade through.

For a moment, she was worried if they were even in the right place. The Horizon was huge, practically endless. She’d only explored a small fraction of it before: They could be several kilometers away from where they meant to go and not realize it within the wide stretch of empty void that made up the realm’s atmosphere. 

There were new spirits they had to face as well. Bending low at the sign of movement, Hat Kid watched a tiny, mushroom-capped figure idly shamble by along the forest floor before noticing her attention. It froze, then jumped in place to burrow the lower half of its body into the ground. The young alien then had a sudden flashback to one of her last talks with the phantom ruler, when he’d given her the last Time Piece she needed before leaving the realm last time:

_“Some of my guard captured it from a few of the nature sprites entering the realm. They’re several weeks early, actually… These things can happen if they’ve dealt with a drastic change in their environment. It can confuse them.”_

_Nature sprites…_ She straightened herself back up, taking another look around. She already knew that Moonjumper could manipulate the Horizon as he saw fit, but had they done all of _this_ in the short weeks since their fight? It was amazing…

And it also reminded her of the danger they’d be in if they caught him when he was still in a bad mood. She didn’t see the red ribbons that had guided her way from the goats’ territory to the town before. Hat Kid picked one of the tallest trees nearby and rapidly climbed it. The forest was so wide that it was still hard to see, but she thought she spotted the town’s stone walls just at the cusp of her vision. A ghostly red blur flying overhead—which she quickly hid herself from—only confirmed that they were indeed in the right place.

She dropped back down to rejoin the others, “We’re not too far away. Let’s see if we can find a trail.”

Heeding her friend’s stories, Bow Kid already had put on her Dweller Mask, reminding Hat to do the same. Looking at Kit, a new worry fell over her. The fox woman didn’t have one. Normally, as a spiritual being, she wouldn’t need it, but there was no telling how the Horizon’s power would affect her. Acting as a kind of limbo, the realm would often send visions to its mortal occupants as a way of helping them let go of whatever weighed them to their former lives—and Kit had _a lot_ of baggage to manage. It wasn’t a bad thing if it helped, but they didn’t have time for her to run away from illusions. 

For the moment though, Kit seemed content. Her golden eyes shown with wonder at their surroundings and she busied herself by picking the fruit off a cluster of plants at their feet, “I can’t remember the last time I had strawberries!” she cooed. No doubt thanks to the Horizon’s ether though, these were blue instead of their usual, ruby color. She plopped one of the bulbs into her mouth, ears flicking and tail swishing, humming in delight.

She certainly was in much better spirits compared to her fearful, albeit still curious, attitude towards Subcon—probably because this was her first time seeing a place filled with so much light beyond the Fireland’s eternal flames. The Horizon was admittedly a mythical place, but if she responded like this to being here who knew how she would react if she ever saw the sun again after countless years. 

Hat Kid exhaled in relief. Based on her own experiences, the visions only came when she was alone with little else to distract her. So long as they made sure to keep Kit at their side and their focus on the task at hand, maybe it wouldn’t matter that she didn’t have a mask to protect her. 

Kit’s berry-picking also reminded the girl of another fact about the Horizon: Its ether was dangerous to the living. Prolonged exposure would make her and Bow sick before inevitably turning them into ghosts unless they ate the realm’s food. Taking a few berries from Kit, she shared them with Bow. They each helped themselves to a few hearty bites. 

“So, where to?” her friend asked, adjusting the straps of her pack.

“Let’s see if we can find the snow women first,” Hat offered. With all of these other spirits moved in, she hoped they hadn’t left the realm. Maybe it wasn’t the best option if Vanessa was indeed closing in, but she hadn’t figured out what to even say to Moonjumper yet and their territory was probably closer from where they were anyway. Maybe they could find a place to cross over the ravine via the floating rocks she’d used before. She pointed further into the woods with her umbrella, “Let’s go that way for now.”

The group started to look for a path, but the area was so overgrown that it was hard to navigate through. It wasn’t long either before any of them spotted their first true obstacle: A vivid, red eye manifested along the bark of one of the older trees. Hat was quick to drag herself and Bow out if its field of vision as it flickered around. Kit needed no warning, startling back like a deer at the strange and unnerving apparition. 

Fortunately, it didn’t stick around long, but it did still mean that Moonjumper and his subjects were watching. Hat Kid grimaced. Maybe he’s increased his guard since last time. It’s not like she’d ever planned on coming back, especially so soon, but he could’ve even been specifically looking for _her_. She hoped not…

From that point forward, they walked through the maze of foliage with a cautious tread. A thick wall of briars tried to cut their path, and Hat stopped Kit from igniting it _for now_. A fire definitely would draw attention to themselves. Instead, she and Bow used some of the radiant mushrooms to bound over while the fox woman took to the trees to get across.

Anywhere that they couldn’t jump over the mess of undergrowth, they tried swinging over instead, using Kit’s whip and the girls’ hookshots to cling to some of the low-hanging branches. The deeper they went in, the more spirits they found. The majority of them were green sprites that, similar to their lightning counterparts, were small with often slightly humanoid forms and indistinguishable faces. They mimicked the surrounding flora; capped with mushroom tops, crowned with flowers, or coated with wide leaves.

Other spirits included half-submerged shoots in the earth that they had to avoid stepping on; sleeping creatures whose wood-carved eyes would fly open as they made an infantile scream whenever they were disturbed. Most jarring were the bushes that came to life before their eyes. In the distance, a little off-course, the two girls thought they’d heard an odd purring sound come from one or two of them. They worst though were the large, viny bundles that would suddenly come to life and try to drag either child into their waiting maw of coiled branches. When they did, Hat and Bow would quickly wriggle free and lash out at the carnivorous plants before they could chomp down on them, Kit anchoring them back with her own weapon.

There was no telling where they all came from—possibly from all across the planet, or at least whichever hemisphere was headed into its colder seasons. Either way, it was the most Hat Kid had seen all gathered in one place. She wondered if any of them might’ve once frequented Subcon at some point in its distant past. If they did, it was likely the miasma keeping them away now, the powerful gloom too great for them and their wild gardens to push back against.

All the while as they traveled, the trio had to avoid more of Moonjumper’s spying eyes. Sometimes they peered from the bark of trees as before; other times they were imprinted on stones before burning away. Sometimes all they had to do was wait for them to fade before racing past; other times those stubborn stares lingered for so long that they would have to find another way to slip around them.

Eventually though, they managed to reach the ravine. It appeared without warning behind the veil of greenery, and if the trio had been in a thoughtless rush, they might’ve tumbled down into its abyss. As it was, they had to walk for a little while longer before finding a way across. 

The floating rocks Hat Kid remembered were now covered in a thick cascade of plant-life that acted as a natural bridge. It made it easier for them to get across, but it left them out in the open. There was a cluster of some greenery similar to a giant butterbur growing not far from them. Kit’s glowing form would be hard to hide, but Hat and Bow plucked two of the leaves to cover themselves out of view from any passing Dwellers.

They weren’t far away now: The young alien could already see the snowfall on the other side, meaning the snow women had to still be around. Compared to most of the other nature spirits, they must’ve made the Horizon their permanent home. _It can’t be easy, being born from ice,_ a small part of her thought with sympathy. Based on what she’d seen from space, there weren’t too many places on the planet where it already stayed bitterly cold year-round and any hint of warm weather seemed to make them recoil.

There was still a small piece of forest left before they reached the supernaturals’ territory. This was where Hat Kid at last found a familiar trail and where they caught a small group of nature sprites rolling a Time Piece to one another in some kind of game. They were easy to chase off, the young girl ripping the hourglass away from them and tucking it in her backpack while they scattered in different directions.

* * *

They found the snow women resting along a fallen log, lounging around and brushing their hair with elongated fingers—just as callous and carefree as ever. At the sight of the children, they lifted themselves up with happy surprise. At the sight of their fiery companion, however, they quickly sank back down with displeasure. Despite their angry pouts, Hat Kid was doubly glad she thought to bring the fox woman along now. Their possessive gazes concerned her, and while she was undoubtedly still ‘marked’ by the fire spirits, she’d likely lost Moonjumper’s added protection. Kit’s presence kept Bow safe as well. 

Her only worry was that they might turn aggressive, but while they did glare with fury at the snow melting unwittingly under Kit’s feet, they didn’t turn aggressive. They wouldn’t risk becoming nothing more than slush themselves. The fox woman, who knew nothing about their state as natural enemies and was too oblivious to truly notice, tried to offer them a friendly wave and was snubbed at in turn. The wintry wraiths looked at the girls instead.

“So, the little snowdrop actually came back,” began one, suspicion in her eyes, “And you brought… friends, with you.”

“We thought our dear Moon finally locked you away to keep all to himself,” said another.

“I can see why, if she keeps this kind of heated company.” 

Only the blatant insult jarred Kit enough for her to at last muster some outrage right back. Clenching her fists at her side, she sputtered and open her mouth to fire a retort herself only for Bow Kid to stop her by taking her hand in a calming way. Now was not the time to make enemies.

Hat Kid took the lead, cutting right to the chase, “We need your help. Vanessa is turning Subcon Forest into a frozen wasteland! She’s left the manor and is heading this way!”

A whole range of emotions fell over the trio of snow women. The first set of reactions were expected: Pride and bewilderment. Of course they were undoubtedly thrilled to hear that Vanessa was working hard to cast the forest into an early, cursed winter—it was an act after their own, frozen hearts. If anything, they’d probably normally join _her_ side if they thought she’d let them, so why bring the matter to their attention at all? The smug, snickering looks on their faces asked the two children why they thought they would even consider coming to their aid?

Then the full weight of what Vanessa’s actions meant dawned on them. In seconds, one by one, they each silently came to terms with that Hat Kid had already realized. She left the manor to find her prince: She was coming for Moonjumper— _their_ Moon. Did they really care? Maybe not. After all, Vanessa and her prince’s story had been a good source of entertainment for them for a long while. This kind of action was worth watching play out. However, the Horizon’s ruler had done a good job tending to every spirit’s needs since he arrived there. Vanessa stealing him away, or at least her attempt to do so, would disturb their charmed life in the realm. That was probably bad…

The snow women’s final display of emotion, concern, was the most jarring. They never acted with genuine concern for anyone; even their regard for Moonjumper existed solely because he was a plaything to them, a puppet acting out his role in a very good show. This was different. They looked to each other, brows scrunched, as they conversed in mute words. Their expressions asked the obvious: _Why_ had Vanessa suddenly been stirred from her centuries of isolation, and _how_ did she know where to find Moonjumper or even where the Subcon’s waypoint was?

But they didn’t question any of that openly. The trio seemed to come to their own, quiet conclusions before turning to face Hat and Bow again. They didn’t look any less troubled, “Have you seen her? Was anyone with her?”

 _What…?_ Now it was the two aliens turned to be confused. Hat shook her head and glanced over to Bow who mimicked the gesture, “No! No, we haven’t seen her yet: She’s pushing the ice ahead of her.”

The answer also gave them no relief. Besides them or her statues, who in their right mind would side with the queen? They looked at each other again, but quickly began to stifle their inner thoughts. Whatever they believed was happening, they clearly weren’t willing to share their theory.

“You haven’t seen any strangers in that forest?”

“No…” Although that was hard to say since the forest already had so many ‘strange’ creatures living there. 

“When did she start moving?”

“Only a few days ago. Everyone’s trying to push her back, but we want all the help we can get,” she pressed, “You said you three and Vanessa were practically one and the same, right? _Please,_ you have to know something we can do to stop her!”

Hat Kid expected that they’d want to bargain: They’d want her to give or do something for their amusement in return. This, their stern silence, was as unexpected as it was disconcerting. Their plain answer made the bad feeling twisting in her gut all the worse.

One of them sank further in their seat in the snow, more defeated now than relaxed, “Hmm… we really hate admitting it, snowdrop, but Vanessa is stronger than the three of us.”

“How?”

“It’s because of her humanity. Human beings—and most mortals—are tied to the earth, whereas we are born of pure snow,” the third spirit explained, a small hint of pride returning in her tone before she continued, “Any mortal being transformed by spiritual power still maintains some of that natural affinity, like… _that_ thing…” Here, she pointed to Kit with disgust. “She is earth and fire, while our sister is earth and ice. That is what makes her stronger, at least to what would normally threaten us.”

Hat Kid felt her heart rise to her throat. Was that true? Was Vanessa even stronger than they thought? If that was the case, were they gathering all of the spirits for nothing? Would the fire spirits really be able to keep her ice back? She bit her lip firmly, shaking off those thoughts. No, Snatcher had hold her off for all these years practically alone. They had their own advantages.

Bow stepped up, “There must be something you can do.”

“We will not help you,” they dismissed, “ _nor_ will we hinder you. Whether she knows it or not, she is as good as any of our own.”

“Besides, this sounds like an interesting turn of events. Sisters, I say we wait until the show is over before we act.”

They giggled lightly to one other, but it didn’t contain its usual tinge of venom. They almost sounded nervous. No matter what the girls argued though, their minds were made up. No amount of warnings, begs, or bribes could deter them.

So, they were forced to turn back, setting their sights on the ghost town in the distance. 


	11. Act Four: Forest Forage, part i

“Well, I think they were very rude!”

Despite guiding their party of three, Hat Kid moved at a slow pace, bracing herself for the meeting to come and trying to sort out her thoughts. It was difficult to begin with, but the snow women’s refusal to join the fight and worrying behavior also continued to weighed on her mind. As such, she remained quiet as she tried to sort out their next moves while Bow and Kit closely followed her uncertain lead. 

“It could’ve been worse,” her friend offered with a shrug, “At least we didn’t have to fight them.”

“They still weren’t exactly friendly…” the fox woman grumbled, “I can see why they like the cold so much. It suits their chilled hearts just fine!”

Bow laughed, “By the way… What ever happened to your ears?” When Kit hummed curiously at the question, she added, “If you used to be human, what happened to your old ears? You weren’t born with those fuzzy ones, right?”

“Oh, those burned off a long time ago! See?”

It was hard to say whether how casually she said that or Hat’s own gross curiosity made her look back, but the child glanced over her shoulder in time to see Kit brush aside part of her hair to reveal the empty place where a human ear should have been. Unlike around her wrists and ankles, there was no visible scarring: Instead, the piece was simply gone with the hair line grown at a more diagonal slope than usual. Hat and Bow both still grimaced.

“Does it hurt?”

“Oh no, I’m fine, really! Actually, I think I can hear even better than I used to. It’s just a little harder sometimes to keep water out of them, that’s all.”

But it _had_ hurt her. Hat Kid had seen it with her own eyes from Kit’s memories. She could picture her now, writhing weakly in pain on a cave floor as the fire slowly consumed her from the inside out… The woman was either lying or she’d forced herself to forget again. Did it burn two new holes right through her skull to create those new ears? Remembering the ethereal glow that flickered from the cracks in her skin during their battle, she wondered if she even had bones at all.

Bow was quick to direct things elsewhere, drawing a hand upward, “Can I touch them?”

“Go ahead!”

Kit paused to bend down so the girl could reach, one of her fox ears twitching slightly at the unfamiliar prodding. Bow brushed the soft fur lightly, admiring how the strands reflected light off her fingertips, and giggled. Both girls momentarily wondered if they could ask for some of Kit’s fur for the Badge Seller’s work; however, given that he didn’t mention her as a possibility and since she wasn’t a true fire spirit, they dismissed the idea.

Hat Kid stared once more at the path ahead. Another red blur passed over them, picking up speed as it did so and moving with purpose. Finally, they’d been spotted—not that it mattered at this now. The path was starting to open up: They were close to the town now.

Moonjumper would be waiting.

Before, he actively appeared to try to avoid letting any of his subjects know that he’d trapped her in his palace. The outer walls were the only areas he’d left untouched during her escape. If they stayed in the village and made him come to them, would he still be reluctant to raise a hand against her in front of an audience? What if he now thought that she was enough of a threat to take the risk even if it meant wiping everyone’s minds? What if he went so far as to lie to them already and make her seem like a danger to them?

It was too late for second-guessing. They couldn’t turn back now and all of them at least deserved a warning. The young alien took a deep breath and resumed the march onward.

He couldn’t have been more prepared for them. As they made it to the main strip of town, they found him waiting in the middle of the street to meet them with his arms folded behind his back confidently, his crescent mask as unreadable as always. Despite how the guard must’ve reported all three of them though, he still tensed when his gaze shifted to either Kit or Bow—possibly not yet knowing what to make of the newcomers.

The Dwellers didn’t seem to know what to make of them either. While they’d gotten used to Hat Kid’s presence overtime, three mortals in their realm seemed to be too much. They quickly moved out of the way at their approach, diving into homes, alleys, and other hiding spots. Hat Kid swallowed hard, unconsciously dragging her feet to slide closer to her companions. It felt like a standoff. 

However, it didn’t take long for a perky voice to break the worst of that tension—more like leaving a knife stuck in it rather than fully cutting through. “Hello! Sorry for intruding…” Kit greeted a little anxiously. 

Entering the civilization—any civilization after so long—brought back her fit of nerves. She practically tried to hide behind the two girls as they welcomed themselves inside the walls, and it was likely only her small exposure to Subcon Village that prevented her from retreating altogether. As it was, against the timid stares of the ghosts who continued to eye them from every corner, she seemed to latch her hopes of goodwill onto the one figure that didn’t run from them: The phantom ruler himself.

“You have a beautiful home! Are you one of the little ones’ friends? I’m Kit, it’s so nice to meet you!”

The woman’s overly-energetic gushing appeared to throw him as much as it did the girls. It was then that Hat realized she’d never told her their history: Moonjumper was just another ghost in her eyes. Nevertheless, it played to their advantage, because to Moonjumper, the danger was now one trespasser less severe.

At first, it didn’t look like he even knew how to respond for a change. He remained still in silent bafflement, then gave his head a faint shake to jar himself and floated a cautious step forward. “Yes, I’m the Moonjumper,” he played along, “And no apologies needed, miss. Most every ghost or spirit is welcome here.”

Behind the blank visage, Hat could almost see how hard he was studying them all. In the end, he seemed to decide that Kit was too naïve to even begin to think of him as an enemy and focused his eyes solely on the pair of children. Of course he already didn’t trust Hat Kid, but Bow’s eyes were also too knowledgeable, too understanding of the situation at hand. If he was going to strike at any moment, he’d go for the both of them first. 

He was calmer than when she’d fought him. He’d had more than enough time to take back his ever-regal composure. Still, that potentially made him all the more dangerous now. Hat Kid braced himself against his steady gaze, thankful she could put up a strong poker face behind her own mask.

“I didn’t think we’d have the honor of seeing you again, young lady. What brought you back?”

His tone remained pleasant, but she could still somehow hear the vitriol behind the specter’s words. _You should’ve known better than to come back here. Don’t try anything._ Outwardly calm or not, he was angry with her. He saw her as a threat to his fabricated paradise.

She also picked her words carefully, “I needed to see you again. I wanted to talk about Subcon.”

Although she kept her voice low, Hat Kid didn’t really worry about mentioning the name aloud since most of the Dwellers here thought they were in the real Subcon anyway. They probably wouldn’t think twice about it. 

“Anytime! What would you like know?” The pause before he spoke assured her that he understood what she meant, but twisting his own words waved away any remaining eyes on them.

She waited until those masked gazes had all drifted far enough away before she next spoke, “I don’t know if or when she’ll make it, but Vanessa is coming here. You need to help us fight her or brace for the worst.”

There was another pause, a longer one now. Moonjumper tilted his head, as if sorting through the armada of information piled in his mind. Nevertheless, when he finally revealed an honest emotion, it was bafflement, “Who?”

That’s right: He still didn’t remember… Hat Kid could’ve screamed. If he’d even gone so far as to wipe her _name_ from his memory, then how was she supposed to get through to him—nevermind without setting him off again?! She bounced in place out of frustration, struggling to keep her voice down as she insisted through grit teeth, “ _Queen Vanessa! You’re girlfriend! You’re ex!_ You need to think, Moonjumper, because if we don’t stop her, she’ll destroy Subcon and then she’ll be coming for you next!”

She knew it wasn’t that easy, but she also didn’t know how to help him. Without uttering a single sound, he scoffed and turned away. To him, her warning was either the ramblings of a bothersome child or the echoes of things he’d shut out long ago. She tried again.

“You hate the snow women for a reason. Think about why! Think about the snow, the ice—it’s coming this way! Think about the basement—!”

The girl reached out for him as he drew back, capturing a string of chains in place of his arm. At last, there was a reaction. The metal shackles clinked as they drew taut by the opposing tug, and Moonjumper’s shoulders lurched in a sudden panic. A faint breath hitched and he swung himself around in a clawing motion, strong enough to pull himself free from Hat’s grasp, but restrained enough to keep himself from hurting her in the process. He just stared.

_“Why do you keep coming back…?”_

“Please, you have to listen to me,” Hat Kid looked at his desperately, not sure what more she could say no matter how much she scrambled through her brain to think of something. However, she was just a child. And she couldn’t force those memories onto him, not when he painfully rejected them anytime there was a flicker of recognition. 

Bow was in no better a position to help. Although Kit didn’t suffer true amnesia, she looked at Moonjumper with a mix of confusion regarding his personal turmoil and something akin to empathy. For just a second, she looked down at her wrists and then wringed one of her small pigtails in both hands.

Then Hat Kid released a long, strangled cough that put them all on alert. 

She curled around herself, hacking into her sleeve until the feeling could pass. Phlegm backed up in her throat and she snorted it back down, her mouth twisted into a firm line. Bow turned to her in concern and Kit placed a tender hand on her back, rubbing it in gentle circles.

“Did you forget about the ether?” Moonjumper asked, recomposing himself somewhat thanks to the interruption. It was impossible to tell what his true emotions were.

“No…” she cleared her throat, “I’ve just had a cold.”

 _“You’re sick?!”_ The fox woman exclaimed with newfound worry. The past tense didn’t matter, “Why didn’t you say anything? You shouldn’t be up and about at all—much less out in the recent weather!” She rubbed the child’s arms, as if that alone would put some heat back into her. “If I weren’t like this, I could at least check your temperature… As soon as we get back, let’s get you settled down. I-I’ll make something tasty!”

Moonjumper considered the trio again, then offered, “I have a kitchen. We could continue this discussion in the palace. It’s still our food, but there’s plenty of fresh ingredients.”

Hat Kid raised a brow at him. If they went to the palace, he’d have every opportunity to trap them in that labyrinth just like before. That’s probably what he was counting on to deal with them out of sight. “I’m alright. It’s not like I’m going to faint.”

Sadly, keeping Kit out of the loop now meant that she also didn’t know it was better to refuse, “Nonsense! We can’t turn him down. All of this stress can’t be good for you either. You can catch up and I’ll cook!”

Bow Kid tried in intervene on her friend’s behalf, “I’m sure it can wait—”

But the phantom prince cut in, “I insist.”

The two aliens looked at each other. What were their chances if they accepted? After all, if it was possible, they needed to try to get Moonjumper on their side. If they followed him though, they’d have to place themselves at his mercy. 

With just that one request, he’d turned the situation around on them. Now, they were the ones at risk of making a scene. They’d be the antagonizers refusing the offer of their ever-generous host, not to mention he hadn’t given Kit any kind of reason to doubt him yet. In her confusion, she’d likely either be left futilely trying to pacify both sides on the sidelines or herself taken down early.

So, they copied Moonjumper by playing along for now. 

* * *

Even when the four of them were alone, he didn’t drop the pleasant act. Clearly, he wasn’t willing to risk a three-to-one fight _just yet_ by revealing his true intent in front of Kit—at least not without getting a feel for his new ‘opponents.’

Moonjumper, Hat, and Bow sat together in the dining hall, eying Kit as she worked past the open doors of the adjacent kitchen. A strong, but inviting smell wafted in from whatever was simmering over a low fire. Hat Kid was glad they could watch her work, just in case the Horizon’s visions kicked in. Besides, Kit was frazzled enough by the new environment and flying dishware that had zipped over to help her before the prince could bid them away from her terrified face. The kitchen was designed with old-fashioned equipment most likely from her era, but she still had to refamiliarize herself with it all.

In the meantime, the break did actually give the girls a chance to talk to Moonjumper openly about what was happening in Subcon Forest. Together, they told him everything that had happened over the course of the past few days and did their best to explain who Vanessa was once again without him erupting. They only really managed it by avoiding talking about his relationship to the queen altogether and instead focusing on what kind of person she was now. 

He didn’t seem to fully believe them, but at least he finally listened. Whether it was because he read their sincerity or that a part of him did recall enough to know that they weren’t lying, he let them say their piece in thoughtful silence—leaning against the table with his chin resting on folded hands. Hat Kid adjusted herself nervously in her seat as she waited for him to respond. Bow kept her own fingers curled firmly around her drink. 

Eventually, he muttered for them to recap, “You came in from Subcon’s waypoint then?”

“Yes.”

He sighed to himself, “I should’ve tried to block that passage years ago… No one has come through there in an eternity.”

“You can thank the spiders for that.”

“And you’re absolutely certain the queen is headed in our direction?”

“The ice had moved pretty much everywhere, but Snatcher said it’s definitely making a beeline for this place. We can’t think of any other reason why she’d come this way.”

Moonjumper went silent again. He tapped his laced fingertips against the top of his hands. Were he anymore motionless, he’d be mistaken for statue. When he did speak, his voice remained calculatingly steady, “You do realize that the Horizon is my priority. Even if you’re telling me the truth, I have to stay and defend my home.”

They nodded.

He leaned back in his chair, rapping the table with his knuckles, “You made a big gamble, returning to this place and coming forward to tell me that… All I can give you is some advice in turn. If you’re looking for additional aid, ask the spiders.”

Hat Kid stared at him quizzically. The spiders would likely want to protect their home just as much as anyone in Subcon, and would likely face the worst of Vanessa’s storm since they were directly in their path; however, they didn’t have the sense to be reasoned with. They were wild animals that attacked anyone on sight.

He elaborated, “They might be brainless bugs, but I promise you that there’s always at least one intelligent spirit among their numbers: A Widowmaker. If you can recruit them, they might give you the additional strength you desire.”

It wasn’t exactly reassuring… Bow asked for the both of them, “How are we supposed to do that? Those things would try to eat us first.”

“You’ll have to be cunning. The desire to defend their borders won’t be enough. Give them meat,” Ignoring their horrified looks, he continued, “Pork usually does the trick: It supposedly tastes closest to human flesh. It’s the smell you’ll need to worry about, but if you gather some ingredients from the forest, I can create an oil to douse it with. They won’t know the difference.”

It was more than they could’ve hoped for. Hat Kid doubted that Moonjumper was using this as a means of sending them to their deaths. It was too cruel and inefficient for him. She allowed a small grin to creep up her face, “Thank you.”

He wasn’t finished, “After you leave, I’ll seal off that waypoint. There won’t be a way back, so don’t risk crossing them a second time to reach this place. There’s nothing I want over on that side, and I don’t want you here. Do you understand?”

His words were cold, hurtful, but… understandable, coming from him. If he could do it, it was the simplest way to ensure that Vanessa didn’t reach the Horizon: She’d cross all of Subcon only to reach a dead end. And it also cut him off from everything Hat had tried to drag back up for him…

She wasn’t worried about Snatcher not being able to rescue the Dwellers that lived here someday. There was still the waypoint at the Alpine Skyline he could enter from, among countless others that neither of them had found yet. Maybe the goats wouldn’t want to get involved, but, surely, they wouldn’t let Moonjumper seal it—especially since it was directly tied to the Twilight Bell. She nodded again.

Moonjumper once more feigned hospitality when Kit appeared with hot bowls of stew and slices of some type of citrusy fruit. Clueless to the whole of their discussion, she was able to jump in with a smile—eager for a friendly stranger to talk to and mortified by her own informality when she finally learned that he was the local ruler. It didn’t take him long though to put her at ease again. 

Meanwhile, the girls ate their meal and spoke in short whispers to each other, only joining the pair of adults when their words were directed at them. Despite what she’d been through and all of her reservations, Hat Kid couldn’t help but feel a little sad. She pushed the feeling down, accepting the warmth and comfort of the dish in front of her. After their short break, they had just one more task to do before returning to the mortal world. 


	12. Act Four: Forest Forage, part ii

Moonjumper stepped away for a while to collect one of his books from the study. He flipped through the pages until he came to an illustration of a wide, bowl-shaped flower with thick, maroon petals and showed it off to the young aliens. “This is a type of carrion flower that grows here. Its coloration shouldn’t have been greatly affected by the ether. They’re rather large, so three will be enough. Bring them back here so we can distill them.”

He turned to Kit next while Hat and Bow finished off the last few bites of their food and dedicated the flower to memory, “I’ll need to move some equipment. May I have your assistance, miss?”

She blinked, ears fidgeting, “Me?”

“We’re going to use steam for this method. I’d like to borrow your fire magic.”

Hat Kid eyed him carefully. _Relax: He wouldn’t go this far to help if he was going to attack you now_ , she thought.Still, despite how much she didn’t want to think the worst of him, it didn’t stop her from considering the possibility that he might be trying to isolate them. There was no reason he couldn’t prepare things himself and, on the chance that he did decide to turn on the trio, leaving Kit with him would effectively be letting him keep her as a hostage. 

Moonjumper seemed to read her thoughts, because he pointedly added, “I assure you, you’ll be safe with me while we wait for the children to return. And I’m certain they’ll finish the task quicker if it’s just the two of them.” He nodded toward Hat Kid, “This one knows her way around already. They’ll be fine on their own.”

He stared at her a while longer than necessary; a subtle way of making sure his true message was clear. _I’m not going to hurt her. You can go._ It wasn’t Kit he was reassuring.

She wished she knew if she could believe that, but then the girl didn’t really know what to believe anymore. Like most of the people she’d met on this world, Moonjumper wasn’t necessarily an evil person. He wouldn’t go out of his way to hurt somebody unless he felt threatened first. Unfortunately for her and her friends, he did, nevermind their good intentions. That considered, it was better if they stayed together.

On the other hand, the whole reason they brought Kit along was for backup against Moonjumper or the snow women. Beyond that, she was so flighty and clueless that she _could_ slow them down. In that case, she might be better off waiting with the phantom prince to get things ready—and if she stayed with him, he wouldn’t be able to focus his eyes on the two girls. He didn’t seem at all threatened by Kit herself either. 

The woman hummed, “I’m not really comfortable leaving you little ones alone…”

“My guard can watch after them.”

That made more sense: He wouldn’t just risk letting them have free range of the Horizon in case they might try to lure away some of his subjects. He was so relaxed when it came to helping them because, overall, he was still the one in control. He just wanted to make sure they played by his rules until he could get them out as quickly as possible.

It looked like it couldn’t be helped. “We won’t be long,” Hat Kid agreed, pushing herself up from her seat, “We just have to search the woods, right?”

“Exactly.”

She and Bow Kid saw themselves out, but not before the two paused at the dining hall’s entrance to spy at the doors a little longer. Moonjumper did nothing but begin instructing the other supernatural on their own task as she cleaned up—only for the dishes to catch her off-guard once again by moving themselves to the kitchen. He chuckled lightly, apologizing for them.

“Should we head back the way we came?” Bow asked as they started down the hall and out the front gate.

“I don’t think I saw any of those flowers on the way into town,” Hat replied, “We might have to cross the ravine again.”

As they made it back outside and looked in its direction, noting the wide stretch of woods that now covered the once barren land, that looked to be case. For a few minutes, they considered which way to loop back around to the other side until they stumbled upon another one of the heavy, wine-woven bridges that allowed them a direct route across. For the most part, this section of new forest was just as young and overgrown as what they’d already traversed. Still, there were small plots of earth that had clearly been planted with some organized direction—likely by Moonjumper’s command.

They were dropped off where a small group of ghosts were already at work harvesting the early fruits. It was hard to tell besides from their tones alone, but most of them seemed happier to actually have something to do thanks to the change of seasons—whether they actually needed the food or not. They were also happy to greet the two children and point them further on their way, warning them to try not to bother the spirits as they searched. 

The Horizon’s soft palette of blues made anything off-color pop when it entered their line of vision. The spirits, however, continued to blend in with their surroundings at large. The girls had to be careful not to step on any of the ankle-high sprites that mimicked the equally small flora and fungi, and avoid the viny monstrosities that kept trying to take an exploratory bite out of them. If they paid close attention to the shallow rows of clear water near the plotted crops, Hat and Bow would occasionally see a strange, momentary bob of movement from the near-invisible water sprites. If they listened carefully, on the rare occasion, they’d hear a quiet, low rumble of a breath from a nearby bush or boulder—a sign of a slumbering spirit.

The first flower was easy enough to find. Its bloom truly was massive—around half the size of one of Snatcher’s cherry bombs—and grew a small piece deeper within the wood, nestled among a bunch of foliage in a tiny circle of trees. Save for having a more vibrant color, it looked almost exactly like its illustration in Moonjumper’s book. 

Even given its name though, neither child was prepared for the rancid smell that wafted from the petals well before they closed in on it. The pair covered their noses, unable to hide their disgust. It really did smell as if something had died—and was even worse up close! Hat and Bow looked at each other with a wince, hesitant to get it, before the former gave up and inched forward to pluck the flower from its short stem.

“Whatever Moonjumper’s making with this, it better work on those spiders…” Hat grumbled, holding the flower away from her face.

“Well, that could’ve fooled me,” Bow replied, her voice muffled through her hands.

Hat Kid’s thoughts drifted again to the need for all of this in the first place: To trick the spiders into thinking they were getting _human_ flesh. The idea alone made her cringe, but not as much as how easily the Horizon’s phantom ruler had known what to do. Since the giant arachnids only seemed to have arrived in Subcon after the miasma had settled over the forest, she didn’t think he would’ve been speaking from much experience.

The prince of Subcon, however, had needed to prepare to rule over spirits as much as his and the queen’s mortal subjects—a role that Moonjumper was forced to adopt nonetheless here in this realm. It was likely a trick he picked up on from that, just like how the Dwellers used their masks to confuse spirits. It wasn’t the kind of everyday knowledge she herself would’ve ever wanted to put into practice if she didn’t have to right then.

They didn’t see any other carrion flowers growing close by, unfortunately, and it would take too long to march back and forth if they were to gather them one at a time. The young aliens would have to lug around the gross blossoms until they’d found the remaining two they needed. Hat Kid considered stuffing it in her bag, but quickly thought against it in case the smell spread to the rest of her belongings.

As the girls continued their search, they stepped a little too close to one of the noisy bushes they’d been trying to avoid. Distracted by the task at hand, they were caught off-guard as the foliage started to shake threateningly before spinning around to face them in an odd, ‘crouched’ position. Hat and Bow readied their weapons, taking a couple, careful steps back.

Four dark limbs, a spiked tail, and a pair of eyes suddenly burst from the mass of greenery. A mouth of small, sharp fangs also appeared as its purring snores turned to a hiss of warning. This spirit was some kind of feline—a bush cat—a little smaller than the two children themselves. Both its eyes and two thick stripes on its tail radiated with a golden glow. 

It was cute… up until it charged at the girls for disturbing its nap. Bow Kid moved in defense first, batting the creature away as it neared. It went rolling for a few meters before springing back to its feet and rushing forward once more. The strike only angered it further, giving it an additional boost of energy.

Bow’s first move gave Hat Kid a chance to adjust her grip, shuffling the flower in the crook of her arm and bracing her umbrella in her other hand. As the bush cat closed in once more, swinging its tail at the former like a mace, Bow dodged to recover while Hat found an opening to counterattack. This time, the strike landed on the bush cat’s unprotected side and it only skid a small distance, holding itself up, but it was still no more deterred. 

It sprung at them once again, this time managing to scratch at Hat’s hand and finally land a swing at Bow with its tail. The creature’s claws and spikes were more like briars, fitting its plantlike body, but they still hurt plenty. Caught between the two children now though, they were able to land the last three hits needed to tire the bush cat out and force it to retreat into the nearby undergrowth—making it one of the stronger and more aggressive supernaturals that they’d faced. They made a point to move more cautiously than before, weaving around any similar bushes they stumbled across along their way.

The second carrion flower grew far within the dense forest, close to where Hat Kid had battled the young, yellow ghost for a Time Piece weeks prior. It was Bow Kid’s turn to pick it, her expression twisting into the same, disgusted face as her friend’s as she did so. Neither girl could wait to return to the palace just to get rid of the flowers and clean themselves of the smell.

Which was why they were glad to find the third not long after; however, this time growing in an odd place compared to the previous two. While the others had grown along the ground among heavy foliage, this last one had somehow planted itself high on a rocky overhang along one of the tall mounds of earth that rolled from the mountainside through the once barren landscape. To get it, Hat Kid leapt into the branches of a nearby tree, ricocheting off to scale the stone wall and make the last few jumps to reach. 

Part of the flower’s roots stuck out of the earth from their flimsy purchase, so she ripped it free by one of its larger tubers. It was so bulky that it swung away from Hat before she could grab it, causing it to tear free from her hold. Luckily, at the base of the rock wall, Bow was still able to catch it in the nick of time.

Their task finished, the young aliens hurried back as quickly as they good, not even stopping to admire the fantastical gardens on their way. As much as they would’ve liked to explore more of the Horizon in its current, overgrown state, maybe even visiting some of the Dwellers in town, it just wasn’t something they could afford. Not only was there the stench of the carrion flowers and the constant threat of Vanessa, but the longer they stayed, the more the Florist would worry as well—possibly enough for her to follow after them and risk a whole new set of problems. Even if Moonjumper was just going to block the way from Subcon to the Horizon after they left, Hat Kid didn’t want to ruin what little goodwill she had left with him.

Feminine laughter greeted them when they returned to the dining hall. Much to the children’s relief, neither Kit or Moonjumper had found a way to upset the other during their absence—no doubt largely thanks to the latter’s natural, if ever calm and mysterious, charisma putting the former at ease. Having already set up the beakers, tubes, and other equipment needed, they’d fallen into some casual chatter which the two girls only just seemed to catch the end of:

“Do you like our town then?” Moonjumper asked, “Besides the snow spirits, anyway.”

“It’s all lovely! The way everything shines is almost like something from a storybook, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen stars. All of the smog in the Firelands tends to blot them out, sadly,” she explained. However, then she continued after a thoughtful pause, “Although I think it might be nice to see a few more warm colors.” 

“Color?”

They were innocent words, but enough to raise Hat’s concerns. On Moonjumper’s part, she was worried he might’ve been fishing to see if Kit could be tempted into staying in the Horizon—memories of her own near-entrapment in the realm flashing back to her. On Kit’s, she was worried that any criticism might not land well, even though it was likely only coming from her artistic sensibilities. The girl walked in, Bow following, but the pair of adults didn’t notice them at first.

“All of the blues are very pretty, but they can make everything seem a little cold by themselves, especially since the town is fairly empty. What if there were lanterns, or maybe some stained glass?” For a moment, Kit looked distracted, as if too caught up envisioning the possibilities. Then she blushed as she snapped back to the present, remembering just who she was talking to, “I-I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’m sorry, I can’t really say much myself on these things. The Firelands is mostly a bunch of reds, after all…”

Maybe it was because he was so hard to read thanks to his mask, but to Hat Kid’s surprise, Moonjumper seemed to actually agree with her. He took a moment to look around the dining hall and out its wide window, as if considering it. Eventually, he offered back a single nod, “No, I appreciate the honesty. I suppose… it can feel like something is missing. A splash of some other color might do some good…”

He’d put so much effort into making the place a replica of the old Subcon that the child never would’ve imagined he’d admit that much. Or accept any sort of critique, after what the ghost put her through. Again though, maybe it was because it _was_ such an innocent comment—one without any connection to his painful history—that he was able to mull it over. He’d asked for Kit’s opinion and she’d given it: That was all.

Hat Kid didn’t have long to look too in-depth at the brief dialogue as Moonjumper’s gaze finally came to rest on her and Bow. Greeting them, he stood up to immediately get to work, instructing that they drop the flowers on the table and wash off in the kitchen.


	13. Act Four: Forest Forage, part iii

It took every useful shred of the three flowers and around two hours to create just a small vial of oil—and somehow, both Hat and Bow swore that it smelled even worse. They made sure the keep the lid on tight before packing it with their things. Afterword, Moonjumper didn’t even wait to put away any of his equipment before personally guiding them back to the waypoint they arrived from. 

Along the trip, Hat Kid couldn’t help feeling a wave of sadness pass over her, dedicating every part of the Horizon to memory. The knowledge that she would someday soon leave this planet was a fact that never left her mind with each Time Piece she collected: The heavy realization of potentially never coming back dawned on her less. She only thought of it in the moment because—even beyond how adamant Moonjumper was about sealing this particular path in—she likely wouldn’t return to the Horizon a third time. She and Bow were so close to their goal and she had no idea what their higher-ups had set for her next. She just knew that her chances of returning to this world anytime soon were small.

What she was doing right then, getting involved in this world’s affairs, allowing its people to get to know her, the attachment and responsibility she felt toward them… All of it broke more of the Clockwork Fellowship’s rules than she could count. She knew that, and yet she couldn’t help it. Nevermind that she was forced to interact with them because of the Time Pieces, there was something about each person she’d met that was special and she’d gained experiences that she’d never thought were possible. A good Clocksmith never would’ve lost the hourglasses in the first place, but she had. A good Clocksmith wouldn’t have ever glanced at anyone's Storybook pages if it wasn’t relevant to their job, but she did. She was a failure on every front, and yet somehow had few regrets. 

Eventually though, she’d have to say goodbye. This world wasn’t her home and she and Bow had important jobs to do. Until then, she could only pack as many memories as were left with her. 

In contrast to Hat Kid’s silence, the realm was so new to Bow that she continued to take it all in with wide-eyed wonder. Moonjumper and Kit, meanwhile, stayed just as talkative as they’d been. It made sense: The former’s control of most of his subjects likely didn’t leave many for conversation and the latter hadn’t had much of anyone to talk to thanks to her time in the Firelands, so they fed off each other.

“So, you’re primarily a painter then?” he asked with genuine interest, “I used to paint too—more of a hobby though, really.”

Kit’s eyes appeared to twinkle at the revelation of the shared trait, “You did?! I wish you’d shown me some of your work!’

He raised his hand in a kind of half-shrug, “All in the past, I’m afraid. My studies kept me busy. Law, diplomacy, not to mention research into various spirits and lands—I had to let go of some things.”

“Well, that’s a shame!” One of the woman’s ears dipped back as she gave him a tenderhearted frown. Like him, her job was also passed down by a parent; however, although Hat Kid never saw more than a glimpse of Kit’s early life from her Storybook, it was unlikely that the role was pushed on her to the same extreme or took up as much of her time. Not to mention that art was something she was extremely passionate about and, chances were, she couldn’t imagine giving up on such things. “What did you paint?”

This took him a while to answer, and when the phantom did, he didn’t seem entirely sure of himself, “Mostly just things in my head, I believe… It was so long ago. The only one I remember was a self-portrait of me looking up at the moon.” He chuffed lightly, “Fitting, I guess.”

Strangely, Hat Kid remembered that painting too—even if it took her even longer to think of where. It was an image hanging in Vanessa’s manor on the first floor, although where she’d gotten it was beyond the child. It was possible that either the prince gave it to her when they were still together or that she had one of her servants steal it. Beyond the aged cracks and scratches, it hadn’t looked bad, limited to mostly flat colors and basic shapes. 

Another painting also came to mind, but for different reasons entirely. There had been a well-kept piece in the queen’s bedroom; a painting of a thin, pale girl with a long, cyan ponytail dancing on a snowy night. When she thought about it, the girl reminded her of the snow women, even if she wore a much more friendly, cheerful smile than they themselves did. Did that possibly mean that Vanessa had seen or even met them before? Was she aware of how they were connected?

“And you?”

“Mostly landscapes. They’re what my father taught me,” Kit replied, then scratched the side of her face with the tip of her forefinger bashfully, “Although, I guess I did get a bit experimental on my own… Smoke is a surprisingly good medium.”

 _And people, apparently,_ Hat Kid thought with grim humor, not that she’d say it out loud. The young alien didn’t agree with it in the least, but she understood the need for Kit’s cursed paintings. They gave the fire spirits the living energy needed for rebirth. Caught and released, it wasn’t like the people in them suffered real harm, but there had to be another way. If the miasma ever lifted from Subcon Forest, then maybe the land would eventually heal enough for the foxes to gather what they needed from it. That, however, was a distant hope.

The waypoint was just up ahead, almost echoing how it might appear on the other side were Subcon as alive and bountiful as it had been in the past. The most noteworthy difference was that, instead of a mass of spider webs hanging from every aged tree and coating every surface along the forest floor, only a few red ribbons sticking out amongst the blue, new foliage marked the spot as anything worth attention.

“Here we are,” Moonjumper plainly stated, nodding to the hole in the rock, “I know it’s only mere moments this way, but safe travels back.”

Hat Kid turned to face him, “Thank you for your help. You didn’t have to.” Still, just to make sure that the ghost understood that she hadn’t given up on him, she subtly added, “I wish you could come with us.”

“My place is here,” came the detached reply, “And if there is a threat, then my subjects need me.”

If that were all, then he should’ve also had to think about the other Dwellers left behind. There was no getting through to him… It also meant that, unless their plan with the spiders pulled through, they won’t have gained any more allies.

Moonjumper cleared his throat, pulling back his cloak to withdraw something from inside. The young alien recognized the hourglass shape immediately, “You’re still looking for these, yes? The nature sprites brought this in.”

As he passed the ancient relic over to her hands, she gave him an appreciative nod. It didn’t make her feel any better though. 

A small flame in hand, Kit was the first to pass through the waypoint followed by Bow Kid. Just as Hat stepped into the shadow of the tunnel, she took a glance back in time to see Moonjumper summon his crimson cords to his fingertips and fire them up over the rocky ledge above. There, they caught around some unseen stone—the other ends weaving around his grip to brace for the task for come. At least he had the courtesy to wait for her to leave before acting further.

Kit’s light as her guide, she warped to Subcon with the distant roar of crumbling earth echoing behind her.

* * *

The forest they returned to wasn’t the same as the one they left behind. Clearly, Vanessa was hard at work. 

The first thing the trio was greeted to on their return was the strong, freezing winds that now coursed through the trees. The snowfall had worsened, coming down harder than before and leaving a thin sheet of white coating the ground. Even some of the trees now had small crystals of ice knotting around them, the tips of their already dark leaves turning an ugly, dead black from the intense cold.

Equally as jarring were the statues—and remains of a few of them—that now suspended above them from heavy vines. While they were gone, the Florist had _truly_ been guarding the area, cutting down any foe that neared with her chlorokinetic abilities. “Looks like that Shadow’s minions were right. The queen must’ve sent these goons ahead of her,” she explained with a hand on her hip, then she looked them over, “No luck?”

“Not yet,” Bow Kid answered, pulling out the vial of carrion flower oil to show her, “But the Horizon’s leader said that maybe the spiders could help us. 

Hat was eager to race off to their next objective, “We can go see them next.”

“Not now!” the fox woman quickly cut in with a strict pout, “You’ve both run around plenty enough for one day— _and your sick!_ You need rest.”

The Florist quietly smirked. Given the circumstances, it was hard to fully rationalize Kit’s mothering. Nevertheless, she must’ve seen some logic behind it, because she added, “It would be good if we went ahead and reported Vanessa’s new moves to the others as well. Whatever she wants, we can strengthen our watch to block her way here.”

“And I can check on the fire spirits!” the former hastily agreed with a rapid nod.

Hat and Bow frowned, but there was no help for it: The vote was two-to-two and both women made some good points. They were also missing one key item—some actual meat—for their trick against the spiders to work. Therefore, as impatient as they were, all four of them travelled back to the village to regroup with the others.


	14. Act Five: Highwire Webs

Subcon Forest’s spooky atmosphere was eternal, but waking up to its winter nether-land was worse: It only added a layer of cold to the preexisting darkness and ruin, slowly killing what little life had managed to find a place there after all those years. The bats were gone, retreating to whatever shelter they could find. The dull chirrup of insects had fallen mute, leaving only the harsh wind and the woods’ restless spirits to create any kind of background noise against an overwhelming silence. Plants continued to freeze from the inside out, their rich colors sinking to a dismal, deathly black.

They were running out of time. No one had spotted Vanessa yet, but that was likely only because she was trying to establish some dominance over the land first by manipulating the weather to this extreme. After all, Snatcher had been in full control of it for so long that his own power was practically intertwined with it: The more ground she took, the easier it was to limit his chances of stopping her.

As such, the shadowy phantom wanted to take a more aggressive stance. Right then, every being was on their guard; however, Snatcher had already given them orders to mobilize at a moment’s notice. During their inevitable, final push back against the queen and her own forces, they’d shrink their defenses primarily to the foxes’ bonfires. The maintained barriers would hopefully bottleneck Vanessa directly toward their largest numbers. A handful of minions and the strongest of the Dwellers would watch over the village. The remaining fire spirits would take the frontlines to battle the ice itself, while the minions and swamp spirits backed them up as support and fought off any of the possessed statues. Snatcher would mainly guard the whole of their small army from the side with his magic, ready for when Vanessa herself might appear. 

The spiders—if the girls succeeded in getting their help—were to stay in the trees as lookouts and additional backup. Snatcher also planned out traps for them to set with their webs prior to the fighting. While Hat and Bow slept, one of the minions had snuck off to a neighboring town just beyond the woods on-foot to get them the pork they needed. They’d returned by the time that both young aliens were ready to set out on the task ahead, who had to split the large load between them just to carry it and keep their hands free for combat.

Kit couldn’t join them, now busy as ever tending to the fire spirits. Luckily though, they’d burned enough webbing away the previous day that the path into the arachnids’ territory would be fairly clear. Going even deeper in was the problem, but torching everything in their way didn’t seem like the best option if they were going to convince the spirits into joining their side. They’d need to tread carefully.

Hat and Bow thought of asking Lily to join them again, just to have one more person guarding their backs, but she seemed busy herself between Snatcher’s and the Thane’s orders—set on the defense like the other, restless swamp spirits. All of them showcased an impressive, if dangerous power: Even away from their watery home, they maintained some elemental advantage to compliment their raw strength. Whenever Vanessa’s forces lied in wait, they’d have some difficulty pushing all the way through without the ice queen herself at their side.

Hopefully, that meant that the cursed statues would also keep away from the two girls’ trail for a while. They followed the same path from the day before, determination creasing their brows. Hat Kid adjusted the straps of her pack, eyes peeled at the shadows creeping through the canopy of branches as long and jagged as spider limbs themselves. 

Deeper in, they found a few ragdoll forms tangled in a thick layer of webs, a warning of the potential danger ahead. While the minions were able to escape by leaving their cloth bodies behind and the arachnids had no need to actually harm them—evident by how intact the remains were—that didn’t guarantee her and Bow’s safety as flesh and blood beings. Two gaping, fang-shaped holes in one of the bodies—no doubt left behind from an exploratory bite—were just another reminder of that very fact. The young alien swallowed air out of nerves.

With a somewhat anxious look of her own, Bow Kid ran over to the low hanging branches of one of the nearby trees. Grabbing one, she motioned the other child over with a pointed nod, “Let’s climb up. I can’t help feeling like we’ll just get ambushed down here.”

She had a point. Between the haze of snow and webs and the cover of craggily plant-life, any of the big bugs could’ve been hiding nearby, waiting to strike. Hat had a number of close calls with them while working on Snatcher’s contracts, so she knew they needed to spot the spiders before they got the chance to blindside them. After all, coming in peace didn’t mean she wanted to put herself or Bow in harm’s way if they could help it. As an added precaution, both girls also slipped on their Dweller masks.

Besides, Moonjumper specifically said they needed to find the _leader_ of these spiders: The Widowmaker. The rest were mindless beasts, so it wasn’t like diplomacy would work on them. As Hat Kid followed her friend up into the canopy, she again took a cautious look around as though countless eyes from countless spiders were already staring right back at them, sizing them up as their next meal. She wished she’d thought to ask the phantom prince how _far in_ they were supposed to go into the arachnids’ territory, or at least for some kind of clue to help them find the Windowmaker. Still, the way he described the spirit, maybe it would just be obvious. 

_Just follow the webs…_ the young alien figured, even though it was hard to see how they could be any more cluttered than they already were in that part of Subcon. She tapped her umbrella against her side as if to urge herself onward. Strangely, there were a few lamps hanging along some of the branches as they did in other areas, but these were dark and busted—two clear signs that they hadn’t been used in many years. Nevertheless, they were perfect for the girls to latch onto with their hookshots.

One after the other, the pair swung across to the next tree, about mid-level through the canopy. A few minutes passed into their journey before they found any other sign of a lost civilization: One of Subcon’s many treehouses. It was in just as dismal a state as a rest, the interior in shambles and part of the roof caved in. Neither child was certain that it would even be stable were it not for the thick webbing unintentionally binding the structure to its leftmost beams.

A cracked chest remained out of the ruined furniture, in which they found a small collection of old toys. Not all of them were in the best condition, but Hat Kid picked a small, wooden sword from among them and stashed it away in her bag. However weak, it was still good to have a backup weapon just in case. With a similar line of thought, Bow soon found a wooden shield that matched for herself.

Continuing on, it wasn’t much longer before the giant arachnids began to actually show themselves. Multiple sets of bold yellow eyes and the glowing, jaw-like patterns on the spiders’ abdomens gazed at them in the darkness. The girls rushed to leave their immediate surroundings only for a trio of the bugs to pounce at them from above. 

They whirled in opposite directions to escape their reach. More used to facing them, Hat Kid countered first. Kicking off the platform, she leapt at the closest spider—driving the heel of her foot against it as she cut the silky thread keeping it suspended and rebounded off its side to repeat the same set of actions to the next bug to follow after. As they plummeted to the earth below, she landed safely against the thick trunk of another one of the many trees.

More were already closing in after them. Hat Kid activated her projectile badge next, blasting one away that dropped toward Bow from behind. Meanwhile, the latter fought back the last of the first three, hurrying over to a lantern to swing to another branch not far off.

Without a word, they kept each other’s pace as they raced through the trees. The wood creaked under their feet at each sudden impact, snow flying as they bounced back into place when the children leapt to the next boughs in-succession. The arachnids didn’t immediately give chase, but there were so many eying them in the darkness that, soon enough, they were attacked yet again. 

Hat Kid was too busy counting the sets of eyes in the distance that she didn’t notice the spider that dropped down on top of her until it was too late to evade it. It’s quick, spinning attack sent her flying from the safety of the limb she stood on toward the ground far below. Even with the air knocked from her lungs, she hurriedly propelled her body into a sideways tumble—aiming for a radiating mushroom growing in the crook of an ancient oak. She hit her mark and rebounded back into the upper section of the canopy.

The world seemed to spin around her as the young alien took a moment to regain both her footing and senses. When everything fell back into place, Hat Kid raised her umbrella to fire a swift bolt at the bug before it could come for her a second time. Then she risked a glance down. The chaotic tangle of webs was worse here than earlier along the path: They had to be going in the right direction. Still, even if the fall itself didn’t hurt them, it looked like they could easily wind up trapped below should they lose their footing now.

Hat Kid reached a spot along the trees where the gap between them was too large for a regular lunge. She had no choice but to climb a little higher, reaching a single cord from a distant web. It was older and not as sticky as the others, but was still strong, much like the wires she’d traipsed across in Mafia Town and Dead Bird Studios. Quickly and carefully, she began to make her way over it, only daring to jump the remaining distance once she was well-over the half-way point and after yet another spider had gotten uncomfortably close. 

Meanwhile, Bow found her own way over by scaling the trees to an even higher point and spiraling down with a wide kick. She landed on top of the spider, knocking them away as her companion had down previously before making the much smaller jump to her side. Together once more, they headed closer to the old web to use another one of its stray threads to tightrope on. 

It was simultaneously reassuring and nerve-wracking. On one hand, it reminded Hat Kid that Bow was right behind her, urging her on. On the other, she could feel every wobble of the cord between her and her friend’s shifting weights, making it feel all the more likely that either of them would fall. One of them could’ve stayed back until the other had finished crossing; however, they didn’t really have the time to wait and risk being swarmed and divided again. 

Needless to say, the two took a long breath of relief when their feet returned to solid bark. There were eggs now, clusters of huge, ivory spheres barely hidden in thick, translucent sacs. The girls’ faces twisted in shared disgust and worry, and they found themselves tiptoeing past as if afraid a single misstep would trigger thousands of the bugs to hatch—all awakening with a new, raw hunger and two, tiny morsels right there for the taking.

A little further in and the pair stumbled into what could only be the heart of the spiders’ many nests. From afar, it was impossible to tell the blanket of spider silk from a heavy layer of fine snow: There were so many webs that they covered every inch of the landscape even worse than Vanessa’s storm had managed yet. Nevertheless, the unnatural weather was clearly trying to gain ground, glistening ice crystals collecting in neat rows along the pale, loose strands.

They looked hard, but it actually made the webbing quite fragile. Hat Kid tried stepping on one only for usually strong band to snap under her boot. Bow pulled her back by the arm to help keep her from slipping as the two watched the frozen piece disappear into the messy haze below. 

A few meters ahead still, a vivid light reflected against the ice. They knew what it was before they even neared: A Time Piece caught within the web. Bow cautiously removed it, then quickly shoved inside her coat for safe-keeping as the entire area suddenly erupted with movement. The webs shook as arachnids crept around them from every angle: The hung from branches, clung to trunks, and saddled along the silk threads. Hat and Bow moved back-to-back, raising their weapons in defense.

Before either side could act though, a high-pitched, feminine voice vibrated through the trees, “ _Oho!_ What do we have here? Noisy, nosy, little intruders… You’re either very foolish or very brave to come to _our_ home.”

It was impossible to tell where the voice was coming from at first. Except for the slight, involuntary twitch of their fangs, none of the spiders had opened their mouths, much less spoken. Then a wide shadow fell over the two children, enough to block out what little light washed over Subcon’s eternal night. They looked up:

Hovering over them on a single cord, at least twice as big as the rest of her kind, was undoubtedly the Widowmaker. Beyond her size and a slightly narrower sternum, she looked mostly the same as the others: The same strong legs, the same big abdomen, the same patterns. Her face, however, was a terrifying amalgamation of human and spider features. The mouth was the most jarring, the lips pulled so far back it was as if they were stitched to the frame of her jaws, exposing her gums and twin rows of abnormally large teeth. Tangled, matted strands of pitch-black hair draped past her face and across her forelegs. Eight eyes with golden sclera stared intensely at the girls, and a human nose flared as if to sniff them out. A disturbingly long, twisted neck connected the head to the rest of the body.

“You smell very, _very good…_ ” she continued in a languid, dangerously low tone, inching lower toward them. Neither Hat or Bow could move, as if the horror alone of the seeing the spirit kept them firmly trapped where they were. She shook her head next, as if uncertain, “But you two don’t _look_ very tasty…”

Unconsciously, Hat Kid raised her free hand up to her mask. Unable to immediately respond, all she could think of was how grateful she was for the Dwellers’ traditions. Although the masks already had some power of their own, it seemed there was more truth to their legend than most would believe, since they weren’t immediately attacked like human beings.

The Widowmaker continued, her teeth clacking together as she spoke, “You came all this way, so what do you want? Tell me quickly, tell me, intruders. And be thankful. I only listen because so many curious things lately have echoed through my web.”

She tapped the tips of her innermost forelegs together, almost in anticipation—whether for news or for an excuse to kill though was hard to tell. Either way, the warning stretch of one of her outer forelegs was enough to encourage them to finally speak. Her face was hardly half a meter away from their own now. Bow Kid leaned her head away as if to distance herself as she answered, “The Shadow sent us.”

Hat appreciated her friend’s wise choice of words, and her steady explanation that followed as the Widowmaker first hissed in response. From what little they knew about this spirit, they needed every advantage they could get to lure her to their side. As kids, they didn’t have enough power or authority for her to easily be intimidated by them and, without their masks, they looked human enough for her to try to eat them. Their ties to Snatcher—who had most certainly isolated her and most her kind to this deep, hidden part of the wood—was practically the only sort of reputation they had here. 

As she kept talking, Hat Kid noticed her friend fiddle with the hem of her skirt, her hand clenching and knotting the fabric at her side. She’d release it for a moment, then start again. Bow twisted her umbrella in her other grasp. She was nervous, but didn’t let it show in her voice even once.

By the time she was done explaining the situation, the Widowmaker had reigned in her initial aggression. Instead, she now looked slightly amused, “That Shadow wants _our_ help? Welly well, I’m sure he won’t sorely miss it.” 

Hat and Bow jumped out of the way as she at last fell with a faint swing off her thread, landing on all eights to step a short distance off and rotate to face them yet again:

“The queen is no friend to us spiders, but neither is he. If he loses this fight, it’s not our concern.”

“But if Vanessa freezes over Subcon, the storm will reach you too.”

The Widowmaker dipped the front of her body in an awkward, dismissive shrug. The ends of her mangled lips rose in an ugly smirk. “Then we shall find a new home. The cold is bothersome, but we can survive.”

It was hard to say whether the spirit was telling the truth or just being stubborn. Hardly anything had survived Vanessa’s first storm so many years ago; however, the devastation it caused was what invited so many dark beings like her to begin with. More worrisome still was her promise to find somewhere else to go. Subcon was vast and other spirits like the foxes would be able to take care of themselves, but if the spiders ventured outside of the forest’s boundaries—down its winding trails and into the neighboring areas to wait the blizzard out—they’d most likely enter farmland and small towns. They’d attack innocent people with no connection to Subcon at all.

Hat Kid grimaced, shrugging off her pack to hunt for her half of the meat. Now was as good a time as ever to over up their bribe. “We were told to give you this, if you’d help us,” she grunted, tugging at it by its thick wrapping. It wasn’t that it was too heavy for her, just that it was hard to pull out. Eventually though, she managed to unload her burden next to her, holding it up for show.

As Bow Kid fetched her own half, the Widowmaker’s nose madly flared yet again. _This_ was the smell that enticed her before. Hat stared hard at the Widowmaker and unraveled part of the wrapping to reveal the red and pink mass hidden under it. The two girls had dossed the meat with the carrion flower oil well before they arrived here. Hat Kid hoped the smell stayed well enough. As ornery as spirits in general could be, she didn’t want to think of how the spider would react to being tricked.

No matter how necessary, no matter if the meat they brought wasn’t really human flesh, the plan still disgusted her. It was working though. An instant change came over the Widowmaker: She tapped all of her legs against the platform in an anxious fashion, rocking back and forth in place as if she hadn’t eaten anything in centuries. A clear droll reflected against her large teeth.

It flooded over and splattered through the webbing under her as she spoke, “I didn’t think that Shadow had good taste… Usually, he just throws that part of his playthings away once he’s finished with them.”

Hat Kid blocked that particular image out of her mind.

The Widowmaker kept fidgeting in place, then moved forward to take the meat away from them. Against her better judgement, Hat Kid held her piece away from the spider, giving Bow a look to do the same. The spirit hissed a second time and raised a pair of legs dangerously, then looked around to the rest of her kind. They were starting to close in and there was only so much meat to go around—nowhere near enough for all of them. She glanced down: If she attacked the girls and they fell, it was unlikely she’d reach them before other members of her kin did and had taken their share.

She relented, fidgeting her two of forelegs as she did earlier and changing into a more pleasant tone, “Perhaps… there is some kind of agreement we could reach after all. Since that Shadow wants our help so badly.”


End file.
